COLUMBIA, S.C. – The LSU men’s tennis team (11-2, 2-1 SEC) suffered their second defeat of the season and their first conference loss of the season at the hands of No. 40 South Carolina (9-7, 1-2 SEC) by a score of 4-1.
The Tigers lost the doubles point for the first time since their Jan. 25 match against TCU, which was also the last time they lost on the season. LSU is now 0-2 when losing the doubles point this season.
“South Carolina played well in doubles and carried it over to the beginning of singles,” said head coach Jeff Brown. “By the time we settled in they were too far ahead.”
Sophomore Jordan Daigle clinched the only point for LSU on the match with his 6-2, 7-6 win on court one. Daigle is now 7-0 in singles play so far this season with all wins coming on court one.
The match on Friday took place indoors due to inclement weather in the area. After being at home for eight consecutive matches, the Tigers were ultimately unable to adjust to the different environment.
“As much as we did not want playing indoors to be an issue it was,” Brown said. “Our seasons have been exact opposites as far as them playing 75 percent of their matches inside. It is just the way that goes.”
LSU does not have much time to mourn the loss as they face No. 4 Georgia (10-2, 3-0 SEC) on Sunday at noon CST.
“We are not going to over analyze this one,” Brown said. “We will take the lessons learned and move on.”
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 atwww.facebook.com/lsutennis.
#40 South Carolina 4, #28 LSU 1
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 3*)
1. (57) Boris Arias/Jordan Daigle (LSU) led Thiago Pinheiro/Kyle Koch (SC) 5-3 (susp.)
2. Thomas Mayronne/Harrison O’Keefe (SC) def. Eric Perez/Tam Trinh (LSU) 6-2
3. Andrew Adams/Andrew Schafer (SC) def. Justin Butsch/Chris Simpson (LSU) 6-3
Singles (Order of Finish: 3, 4, 1, 2*)
1. (64) Jordan Daigle (LSU) def. Andrew Adams (SC) 6-2, 7-6 (match ended due to penalty on court #4)
2. Kyle Koch (SC) def. (98) Chris Simpson (LSU) 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1
3. Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. (125) Tam Trinh (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. (101) Andrew Schafer (SC) def. (119) Justin Butsch (LSU) 6-1, 7-6(5)
5. Harrison O’Keefe (SC) led Boris Arias (LSU) 7-6(4) (susp.)
6. Thomas Mayronne (SC) led Andrew Korinek (LSU) 6-1, 1-0 (susp.)
Penalty at singles match #1 was Schafer (SC #4) celebrating by shanking ball out of the court. Point was awarded to highest-scoring match, which just happened to be court #1 at match point of a tiebreak.