BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s tennis team picked up its second-straight SEC win with a dominant 4-2 victory over No. 22 Ole Miss on Friday in front of a packed house at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
With the win, the Tigers are now 2-1 in SEC play and improve to 5-7 on the season. The Rebels drop to 6-4 on the year and 1-2 in SEC competition with the loss.
It was the highest ranked victory for the Tigers this season, and it was the first win over Ole Miss since 2006
“Wins over Ole Miss don’t come easy,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “That felt like we kind or rose from the ashes, because that’s how good I know we’re capable of playing. This win was a huge step for us this season. It was a big win, but now we have to start focusing our attention towards Mississippi State on Sunday.”
The Tigers got off on the right foot by capturing the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. Ole Miss’ Tucker Vorster and Jonas Lutjen were first off the courts with an 8-4 win over LSU sophomores Stefan Szacinski and Roger Anderson on Court 2, but the Tigers quickly took back the momentum.
The LSU pair of sophomore Olivier Borsos and senior Julien Gauthier dispatched the Rebel pair of Kalle Norberg and Adrian Skogenge 8-5 on Court 3 to even up with doubles matches.
The 17th-ranked Tiger tandem of junior Neal Skupski and senior Sebastian Carlsson then clinched the doubles point with a huge 8-4 win over Ole Miss’ sibling duo of Chris and Marcel Theimann, the No. 5 doubles pair in the nation, at the top doubles spot. It was the fourth ranked win for Skupski and Carlsson, who improve to 9-3 in the dual season.
The Tigers then carried their doubles momentum into singles action as LSU won the first set on five out of six courts.
Gauthier met defeat 6-2, 6-3 to Skogeng on Court 6 to tie the score up at 1-1, but Szacinski quickly put the Tigers back up 2-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles over Lutjen. Junior Mark Bowtell extended the LSU lead to 3-1 as he notched a 7-5, 6-1 win against the Rebels John Backstrom on Court 4.
Carlsson then closed it out for the Tigers as the senior co-captain finished-off Chris Thiemann 6-4, 7-5 on Court 5 to clinch the victory for LSU. It was the third win in a row for the Uppsala, Sweden, native, who also picked up a ranked win over 31st-ranked Jarmere Jenkins of Virginia on Wednesday.
With the match already decided, Borsos’ match against Vorster was left unfinished in the third set at No. 2 singles, and 69th-ranked Skupski fell to No.100 Marcell Thiemann in a third-set tiebreaker on Court 1 to make the final score 4-2.
LSU will look to improve its SEC record on Sunday when they square-off against No. 38 Mississippi State on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the “Dub.”
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.
#56 LSU 4, #22 Ole Miss 2
Singles competition
1. #100 Marcel Thiemann (UM) def. #69 Neal Skupski (LSU) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-3)
2. Olivier Borsos (LSU) vs. #101 Tucker Vorster (UM) 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 1-2, unfinished
3. Stefan Szacinski (LSU) def. Jonas Lutjen (UM) 6-3, 6-2
4. Mark Bowtell (LSU) def. John Backstrom (UM) 7-5, 6-1
5. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Chris Thiemann (UM) 6-4, 7-5
6. Adrian Skogeng (UM) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #17 Sebastian Carlsson/Neal Skupski (LSU) def. #5 Chris Thiemann/Marcel Thiemann (UM) 8-4
2. Tucker Vorster/Jonas Lutjen (UM) def. Stefan Szacinski/Roger Anderson (LSU) 8-4
3. Olivier Borsos/Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Kalle Norberg/Adrian Skogeng (UM) 8-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,3,4,5,1,2)