HOUSTON – At least one Tiger from each flight captured a win on day one of the Rice Fall Invitational at Jake Hess Stadium on Friday.
Stefan Szacinski notched a first round win over Rice’s Peter Frank 6-3, 7-6(1) to advance in the flight A singles bracket. In flight B, Julien Gauthier cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Rice’s Sam Garforth-Bles.
Olivier Borsos captured a first round win in flight C, 6-3, 6-3, over Nicolas Moreno of Texas-Austin, while Cody Loup and Roger Anderson both clinched three-set victories in flight D. Loup took down Texas-Austin’s Giacamo Sano 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and Anderson won 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 over Rice’s Jonathan Chang.
“We had a good day today and had some real bright spots,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We had five singles wins and two doubles wins, and the competition gets even better tomorrow.”
In doubles, the duo of Anderson and Bowtell defeated the Rice pair of Isamu Tachibana and Christian Saravia 8-5 in flight A, while Julien Gauthier and James Turbervill bested Yauheni Yakauleu and Erik Hjertonsson of Texas-Austin 8-6 in flight B.
Doubles semifinal play begins at 9 a.m. (CT) tomorrow, with singles play to follow at noon.
Rice Invitational
Oct. 1-3
Houston, Texas
Jake Hess Tennis Stadium
Singles
Flight A
Stefan Szacinski (LSU) def. Peter Frank (Rice), 6-3, 7-6(1)
Daniel Whitehead (Texas) def. Mark Bowtell, (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
Flight B
Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Sam Garforth-Bles (Rice), 6-2, 6-1
Harry Fowler (Rice) def. Tom Knights (LSU), 6-3, 6-3
Flight C
Olivier Borsos (LSU) def. Nicolas Moreno (Texas-Austin), 6-3, 6-3
Erik Hjertonsson (Texas-Austin) def. James Turbervill (LSU)
Flight D
Cody Loup (LSU) def. Giacamo Sano (Texas-Austin), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Roger Anderson (LSU) def. Jonathan Chang (Rice), 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3
Doubles
Flight A
Roger Anderson/Mark Bowtell def. Isamu Tachibana/Christian Saravia(Rice), 8-5
Chris Camillone/David Holiner (Texas) def. Stefan Szacinski/Tom Knights (LSU), 9-7
Flight B
Julien Gauthier/James Turbervill def. Yauheni Yakauleu/Erik Hjertonsson (Texas-Austin), 8-6
Oscar Podlewski/Sam Garford-Bles (Rice) def. Cody Loup/Olivier Borsos (LSU), 8-3