HOUSTON — In a tight match against No. 58 Rice, the LSU Tigers fell 3-4 Sunday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
After a team effort to gain the doubles point, Sophomore Gabor Csonka brought a strong victory for the Tigers to start, beating Rice’s Emanuael Llamas 6-2, 6-1. Junior Jordan Daigle also played hard on court one against Jamie Malik to take the match 6-4, 6-2.
On court two, Justin Butsch fought against Tommy Bennett with two very close sets but eventually fell in the third set 1-6.
“We let the momentum of the doubles point get away from us,” Head Coach Jeff Brown said. “We had several chances to capitalize but we needed one more person on board to get the win. Not today.”
LSU will take a two week break from matches and will return home Friday, February 19 in Baton Rouge to take on Drake at the LSU Tennis Complex.
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.
LSU vs Rice
1/31/2016 at Houston, TX
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
#56 Rice 4, #30 LSU 3
Singles competition
1. #22 Jordan Daigle (LSU) def. Jamie Malik (RICE) 6-4, 6-2
2. Tommy Bennett (RICE) def. #78 Justin Butsch (LSU) 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-1
3. Adam Gustafsson (RICE) def. Simon Freund (LSU) 6-3, 7-5
4. Jake Hansen (RICE) def. Boris Arias (LSU) 7-5, 7-5
5. David Warren (RICE) def. Andrew Korinek (LSU) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5)
6. Gabor Csonka (LSU) def. Emanuel Llamas (RICE) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Adam Gustafsson/David Warren (RICE) vs. #13 Jordan Daigle/Boris Arias (LSU) 6-5, unfinished
2. #47 Tam Trinh/Justin Butsch (LSU) def. Tommy Bennett/Jamie Malik (RICE) 6-4
3. Andrew Korinek/Gabor Csonka (LSU) def. Emanuel Llamas/Jake Hansen (RICE) 6-1
Match Notes:
LSU 1-2; National ranking #30
Rice 5-0; National ranking #56
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,1,3,4,5,2)
T-3:30 A-491