GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The LSU men’s tennis team was unable to end its road losing streak as the Tigers dropped their SEC opener to No. 11 Florida, 6-1, on Friday at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The loss was the fourth-straight defeat for the Tigers (3-6, 0-1 SEC), who have yet to pick up a road win this season. The Gators (8-3, 1-0 SEC) remain undefeated at home with the win.
“Florida played extremely well today and they’re a very talented team,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “We had some matches we were in, and we got better in some spots that we were struggling in. I think we will be a much improved team on Sunday against South Carolina.”
Once again the Tigers couldn’t capitalize early as the Gators took a 1-0 lead by capturing the doubles point by sweeping all three matches. LSU’s 17th-ranked doubles duo of Neal Skupski and Sebastian Carlsson‘s 8-6 loss on Court 1 snapped their seven match winning streak, and was the first loss for the tandem since Jan. 29 against Texas Tech.
The Tigers lone singles win came from senior co-captain Julien Gauthier, who dispatched Florida’s Spencer Newman 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.
LSU had chances on several other singles courts. Junior Mark Bowtell fell in a third set-tiebreaker after a back-and-forth match with Florida’s Billy Federhofer 7-5, 6-7, 10-6 on Court 4, and at No. 5 singles senior co-captain Sebastian Carlsson also fell in a third set tiebreak 7-6, 5-7 (10-7) to the Gators’ Andrew Butz.
The Tigers will end their five-match road swing on Sunday in Columbia, S.C., against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Noon CST.
For up-to-date information and behind the scenes access to the Tigers, fans can follow the LSU men’s team on Twitter @lsutennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis.
LSU vs. Florida
March 4, 2011
Gainesville, Fla.
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
#11 Florida 6, #53 LSU 1
Singles competition
1. #6 Alexandre Lacroix (UF) def. #69 Neal Skupski (LSU), 6-2, 7-5
2. #23 Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) def. Olivier Borsos (LSU), 6-3, 6-2
3. #125 Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Stefan Szacinski (LSU), 6-2, 6-1
4. Billy Federhofer (UF) def. Mark Bowtell (LSU), 7-5, 6-7, (10-6)
5. Andrew Butz (UF) def. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 7-6, 5-7, (10-7)
6. Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Spencer Newman (UF), 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Alexandre Lacroix/Seku Bangora Jr. (UF) def. #17 Neal Skupski/Sebastian Carlsson (LSU), 8-6
2. Bob van Overbeek/Andrew Butz (UF) def. Olivier Borsos/Tom Knights (LSU), 8-5
3. Nassim Slilam/Billy Federhfer (UF) def. Roger Anderson/Stefan Szacinski (LSU), 8-2
Order of finish: Doubles 3, 2, 1 Singles 3, 2, 1, 6, 5, 4