BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 39 LSU men’s tennis team (4-1) defeated No. 49 Purdue (2-3) by a score of 7-0 at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium on Saturday behind a dominating performance from junior Boris Arias, who won 18 consecutive doubles and singles games on the day. The match was the second sweep of the season for the Tigers.
Arias paired with sophomore Jordan Daigle on court two where they defeated the Purude team of juniors Arthur Dobradin and Mateus Silva by a score of 6-0.
“I felt pretty confident the whole day starting in doubles with Jordan [Daigle],” Arias said. “That gave me confidence for my singles match. We are playing really well right now.”
Head coach Jeff Brown was impressed with the day from Arias and is excited for his play moving forward.
“Boris [Arias] won 18 games in a row between doubles and singles and you do not see that very often against a quality opponent,” Brown said. “The guy never gave up and he was playing so well.”
Despite only competing together in one tournament this fall, Arias and Daigle are settling into a nice groove to start dual play. Arias is carrying that momentum into singles play as he is a perfect 5-0 to start the season.
Daigle also translated his doubles success into a singles victory with his 7-6, 6-3 victory over No. 84 Purdue sophomore Ricky Medinilla.
“Boris [Arias] and I came out and played really well from the start with the quick win in doubles and then carried that into singles,” Daigle said. “[Arias] is a really laid back guy who is really easy to play with and we have a good time.”
Brown is pleased with his team’s progress and feels like the Tigers can compete with anyone.
“Anytime you get seven wins against a good team it is great,” Brown said. “I think our lineup has good points up and down with no real holes. I feel it is a good lineup with strong doubles and good points throughout.”
That lineup can only improve as the Tigers await a return from injured junior Andrew Korinek who competed in all tournaments and 27 of 28 dual matches for the Tigers last season.
Adding Korinek back into the lineup will offer the Tigers even more flexibility in the lineup, Brown said.
LSU looks ahead to a Sunday match against another Big 10 opponent in Wisconsin. The Tigers will take on the Badgers at 11 a.m. CST on Sunday in Baton Rouge.
“Wisconsin will be a tough team,” Brown said. “They should be ranked somewhere and they are not currently. They are just as strong, if not stronger, than [Purdue.] It will come down to who is more focused and ready to play.”
For up-to-date information and behind the scenes access on the Tigers, fans can follow the LSU men’s tennis team on Twitter and Instagram at @lsutennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis.
Purdue vs LSU
Jan 31, 2015 at Baton Rouge, La.
(Dub Robinson Stadium)
#39 LSU 7, #49 Purdue 0
Singles competition
1. Jordan Daigle (LSU) def. #84 Ricky Medinilla (PUR) 7-6, 6-3
2. #55 Chris Simpson (LSU) def. Diego Acosta (PUR) 6-0, 6-4
3. #67 Tam Trinh (LSU) def. Mateus Silva (PUR) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6
4. Boris Arias (LSU) def. Renan Hanayama (PUR) 6-0, 6-0
5. #111 Justin Butsch (LSU) def. Arthur Dobradin (PUR) 6-0, 6-1
6. Simon Freund (LSU) def. Lucas Dages (PUR) 1-6, 6-1, 15-13
Doubles competition
1. #52 Tam Trinh/Eric Perez (LSU) def. Diego Acosta/Ricky Medinilla (PUR) 6-4
2. Boris Arias/Jordan Daigle (LSU) def. Arthur Dobradin/Mateus Silva (PUR) 6-0
3. Chris Simpson/Justin Butsch (LSU) vs. Lucas Dages/Renan Hanayama (PUR) 5-4, unfinished
Match Notes:
Purdue 2-2; National ranking #49
LSU 3-1; National ranking #39
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (4,5,2,6,1,3)
Court 6 was decided with a “super tiebreaker”