BATON ROUGE, La. – With W.T. ‘Dub’ Robinson Stadium packed for one final time on Thursday afternoon, the No. 24 LSU men’s tennis team fell to an in-form No. 7 Texas A&M by a score of 0-4.
The Tigers (16-6, 6-5 SEC) dropped a close doubles point before falling in straight sets on courts six, five and three to give A&M (18-3, 11-1 SEC) the win and the regular-season conference championship.
“A little bit of today was self inflicted,” said head coach Jeff Brown. “We can’t control the fact that A&M is obviously a very good team and they don’t need much. They are good in a lot of spots without many holes and that’s what we are trying to put together. We just couldn’t get it done today.”
With one regular season match remaining, coach Brown said the Tigers are still confident that they can achieve their postseason goals down the stretch.
Thursday’s match also marked senior Chris Simpson‘s final home match in Baton Rouge. Simpson played on court one for LSU. His match went unfinished with the score at 6-7, 1-1.
“I have been here for four and a half years now and I really love this place, my coaches, my teammates and the whole LSU lifestyle,” Simpson said. “There is definitely emotion because it is such a big part of my life and I have really matured since I have been here. I am going to miss a lot of people.”
Despite Thursday’s less-than-ideal performance, Simpson said the team is still positive and looking forward to their next opportunity to earn a victory.
Coach Brown said he believes in the toughness of his team and their ability to bounce back, as their performance throughout the season would suggest.
“This team has got some resolve,” Brown said. “We have some goals that are still in front of us NCAA-wise and SEC tournament-wise. Our next opportunity is Sunday.”
The match was the final chance for LSU tennis fans to watch a home match at historic ‘Dub’ Stadium, and the purple-and-gold faithful showed up in droves to pay their respects to the program’s home since 1976.
Brown got a chance to do a bit of reminiscing on some of his favorite moments and memories after the game as well as look forward to the opening of the program’s new facility next season.
“There are a lot of favorite memories as a player including winning an SEC championship in 1985,” Brown said. “There are so many memories before I was even here. As a coach we have had some great wins and to single it out wouldn’t be fair. We will look to carry that tradition over to the new facility.”
Simpson also got a little sentimental as he thought of all the great moments experienced at the ‘Dub’ throughout his LSU tennis career.
“I think definitely sophomore year we were playing [then-No. 6] Tennessee and we were tied 3-3 in the match,” Simpson said. “I was playing [Mikelis Libietis] who was No. 3 in the country at the time. I was a set and 5-2 down before clinching the match.”
The Tigers will play their final match of the regular season against Mississippi State on Sunday April 12 at 1 pm CST at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss.
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.
Texas A&M vs LSU
Apr 09, 2015 at Baton Rouge, La.
(W.T. ‘Dub’ Robinson Stadium)
#7 Texas A&M 4, #24 LSU 0
Singles competition
1. #121 Chris Simpson (LSU) vs. #60 Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) 6-7, 1-1, unfinished
2. #76 Jordan Daigle (LSU) vs. #64 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 4-6, 5-5, unfinished
3. Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Boris Arias (LSU) 6-0, 6-4
4. Tam Trinh (LSU) vs. #55 Harrison Adams (TAMU) 6-7, 3-3, unfinished
5. #78 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Andrew Korinek (LSU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Justin Butsch (LSU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #13 Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. #23 Boris Arias/Jordan Daigle (LSU) 6-4
2. #41 Jordan Szabo/Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) def. Tam Trinh/Eric Perez (LSU) 6-2
3. Chris Simpson/Justin Butsch (LSU) vs. AJ Catanzariti/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 5-6, unfinished
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (6,3,5)
A- 523