TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – LSU’s Simon Freund defeated Tulane’s Alex Van Cott 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the Round of 16 in the ITA Southern Regional tournament in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he beat Tarun Surat of USM 7-5, 6-0.
“Simon had a strong match to make the quarterfinals,” said Head Coach Jeff Brown. “It is good to see someone play and improve in the summer and come back and get off to a great start.”
Junior Justin Butsch also competed in singles, taking his first match 7-5, 6-0 over Southern Miss’s Mikhail Esipov. In his second match of the day, Butsch fell short to opponent Becker O’Shaughnessey 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Along with singles, Butsch and partner Tam Trinh defeated Troy’s Andy Lau and Francisco Yim Kim in the Round of 16 8-6, 6-2.
Trinh, in the first round of the consolation bracket, took a win against Samford’s Fares Kilani. After a tight first set, losing 5-7, Trinh came back strong to take the second set 6-2 and in a third set tiebreaker he sealed the match 11-9.
The team also, in the consolation round of 32, took home two wins over UL. Gabor Csonka proved a deciding first set victory against Will Huyton 6-2. Huyton fought in the second set but Csonka finished off the match with a 7-5 win. Trinh defeated Coleman Wahlborg 6-4, 6-3.
Saturday, Freund advances to the singles quarterfinals along with LSU duo Butsch and Trinh in the doubles quarterfinals.
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