COLUMBUS, Ohio – The LSU men’s tennis team couldn’t overcome Ohio State’s home dominance, as the fourth-ranked Buckeyes blanked the 33rd-ranked Tigers, 7-0, Saturday afternoon at Ohio State’s Varsity Indoor Courts.
The Buckeyes (8-0) extended their home win streak to 118 matches, and snapped the Tigers (3-3) three-match win streak.
“Ohio State is a very good team and they are every bit as good as their ranking,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “Despite the score we had some bright spots, and we will learn from this and improve as we get closer to SEC play.”
LSU’s lone win came in doubles as the No. 27 Tiger tandem of Sebastian Carlsson and Neal Skupski defeated the 19th-ranked Ohio State pair of Matt Allare and Peter Kobelt 9-8 (3) on Court 1. With the win Skupski and Carlsson have now won five straight dual matches, and improved their dual record to 5-1 on the season.
The Buckeyes cruised in the other two doubles matches. Ohio State’s 25-ranked Devin McCarthy and Balazs Novak took down LSU’s Roger Anderson and Olivier Borsos 8-2 on Court 1, and the No. 6 Buckeye duo of Blaz Rola and Chase Buchanan clinched the doubles point with an 8-2 victory over the Tiger pair of Julien Gauthier and Tom Knights on Court 2.
The Tigers couldn’t get back on track in singles as the Buckeyes only dropped one set.
Seventh-ranked Rola defeated Borsos 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1, and Skupski met defeat at the hands of 63rd-ranked Buchanan 6-4, 6-2 on Court 2. On Court 3, Allare, ranked 34th in the nation, dispatched Carlsson 6-3, 6-3, with LSU’s Mark Bowtell falling to Ohio State’s Ille Van Engelen 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4 singles.
The Buckeye’s completed the sweep as Novak tallied a 6-4, 6-4 win over Gauthier on Court 5, and Knights fell in a third-set tiebreak to No. 72 Nelson Vick 7-6, 6-4, 1-0(10-4) on Court 6.
The win was the third of the season over SEC teams for the Buckeyes, who took down No. 18 Ole Miss 6-1 on Feb. 4 and cruised past eleventh-ranked Georgia 6-1 on Feb. 6.
Ohio State is now 7-5 all-time against the Tigers.
The Tigers look to get back on the winning track next Sunday when they travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to square-off against 36th-ranked Wake Forest at 12 p.m. CST.
LSU vs Ohio State
Feb 12, 2011 at Columbus, Ohio
Ohio State Indoor Courts
#4 Ohio State 7, #33 LSU 0
Singles competition
1. #7 Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Olivier Borsos (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
2. #63 Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. Neal Skupski (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
3. #34 Matt Allare (OSU) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. #102 Mark Bowtell (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
5. Balzas Novak (OSU) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
6. #72 Nelson Vick (OSU) def. Tom Knights (LSU) 7-6, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4)
Doubles competition
1. #27 Sebastian Carlsson/Neal Skupski (LSU) def. #19 Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt (OSU) 9-8 (3)
2. #6 Chase Buchanan/Chase Buchana (OSU) def. Julien Gauthier/Tom Knights (LSU) 8-2
3. #25 Devin McCarthy/Balzas Novak (OSU) def. Roger Anderson/Olivier Borsos (LSU) 8-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,1,2,4,5,6)