WACO, Texas – After opening the NCAA tournament with a convincing win over UTSA on Friday, the LSU men’s tennis team fell to the No. 2 Baylor Bears in round two by a score of 4-0 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas on Saturday.
Despite the lopsided score, head coach Jeff Brown was pleased with his team’s (18-9, 6-6 SEC) performance against an elite team like Baylor (23-5). After the Tigers took court one in doubles, junior Justin Butsch suffered a right hand injury on court three that forced him to finish the match with his left hand.
“This team should be commended for the way they came out and played in doubles,” Brown said. “We were going toe to toe with a top team and it is unfortunate that [Butsch] hurt his hand and we had to pull him from the lineup.”
After Butsch’s injury, the Bears clinched the doubles point as the action switched to singles. Freshman Simon Freund filled in for LSU and the injured Butsch on court six.
Despite close contests on courts one, two and three, the Bears were able to show off their depth with straight-set victories on courts four, five and six en route to the victory.
“Baylor is a better team than us right now,” Brown said. “They are too strong for us to overcome losing the doubles point as well as one of our strongest singles players.”
Saturday’s loss brings a year that saw the Tigers earn seventeen wins for the first time since 2007 to a close. It also marks the final time lone senior Chris Simpson will compete for LSU.
Throughout his career, Simpson has earned several accolades including a three-time member of the All-SEC Second Team. The Derby, England native was also named to the SEC-All Freshman Team in 2012.
“A lot of credit should go to Chris Simpson and all that he has done for this program,” Brown said. “We will do our best moving forward to keep up the tradition and standard set by leaders like him.”
Despite the loss of Simpson, Brown is confident that the LSU roster is deep and young enough to not only withstand the loss, but improve moving forward.
“We are a young team that really had a good year. We handled our business well and only had one loss to a team ranked below us,” Brown said. “This team is hungry and they got a taste of it this year. They will come back ready for more next season.”
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.
LSU vs Baylor
May 09, 2015 at Waco, Texas
(Hurd Tennis Center)
#2 Baylor 4, #29 LSU 0
Singles competition
1. #2 Julian Lenz (BU) vs. #76 Jordan Daigle (LSU) 6-4, 3-4, unfinished
2. #35 Tony Lupieri (BU) vs. Chris Simpson (LSU) 6-1, 3-6, 1-1, unfinished
3. #58 Max Tchoutakian (BU) vs. Boris Arias (LSU) 7-6 (8-6), 0-1, unfinished
4. Diego Galeano (BU) def. Tam Trinh (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
5. #116 Mate Zsiga (BU) def. Andrew Korinek (LSU) 6-4, 6-0
6. Felipe Rios (BU) def. Simon Freund (LSU) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #14 Jordan Daigle/Boris Arias (LSU) def. #8 Julian Lenz/Diego Galeano (BU) 8-5
2. Vince Schneider/Felipe Rios (BU) def. Tam Trinh/Andrew Korinek (LSU) 8-3
3. Mate Zsiga/Max Tchoutakian (BU) def. Chris Simpson/Justin Butsch (LSU) 8-6
Match Notes:
LSU 18-9; National ranking #29
Baylor 23-5; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,5,4)
NCAA Championship Second Round
A-264