BATON ROUGE—With the score tied at 3-3, the LSU men’s tennis team fell in heartbreaking fashion as Santa Clara clinched the match on court five to secure the 4-3 win Friday night at the LSU Tennis Complex.
With the loss, LSU fell to 1-3 on the season while Santa Clara improved to 4-0.
Coach Brown on the Match
“I’ve been on both sides of these kind of matches, and it’s a lot more fun to be on the side that (Santa Clara) was on tonight,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “They were hungry, and they came in and responded pretty well after losing the doubles point pretty decisively.”
Doubles Point
LSU started off the match strong as Gabor Csonka and Julian Saborio defeated Andrew Gu and Vasileios Iliopoulos, 6-0, on court two. Jordan Daigle and Justin Butsch notched a hard-fought, 6-2, win on court one against Robert Seby and Connor Garnett, marking the first time that LSU has taken the 1-0 lead this season.
Singles Results
Santa Clara tied the match at 1-1 with a win on court three as Connor Garnett defeated Csonka, 7-5, 6-1.
Butsch recorded a straight-set victory, 6-2, 6-4 against Seby on court one to give LSU the 2-1 advantage.
Agie Moreno fell on court six as Santa Clara tied the match at 2-2 with Kamran Khan’s 7-5, 6-2 victory.
Santa Clara took the 3-2 lead after Jesus Tapiador Barajas defeated Rafael Wagner in back-to-back tiebreakers, 7-6(7), 7-6(2) on court four.
Nikola Samardzic took consecutive sets into tiebreakers to earn his team-high 14th singles victory of the year with the 7-6(3), 7-6(5) win against Andrew Gu on court two.
Vasileios Iliopoulos secured the match with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) win against Eric Samuelsson on court five.
Next Up
The Tigers will continue their home stand with a match against North Florida Friday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. CT. Fans who attend will receive a LSU bottle opener.
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.
Feb. 3 at Baton Rouge, La. (LSU Tennis Complex)
Singles
1. Justin Butsch (LSU) def. Robert Serby (Santa Clara), 6-2, 6-4
2. Nikola Samardzic (LSU) def. Andrew Gu (Santa Clara), 7-6(3), 7-6(5)
3. Connor Garnett (Santa Clara) def. Gabor Csonka (LSU), 7-5, 6-1
4. Jesus Tapiador Barajas (Santa Clara) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU), 7-6(7), 7-6(2)
5. Vasileios Iliopoulos (Santa Clara) def. Eric Samuelsson (LSU), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)
6. Kamran Khan (Santa Clara) def. Agie Moreno (LSU) , 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
1. Jordan Daigle/Justin Butsch (LSU) def. Robert Seby/Connor Garnett (Santa Clara), 6-2
2. Gabor Csonka/Julian Saborio (LSU) def. Andrew Gu/Vasileios Iliopoulos (Santa Clara), 6-0
3. Rafael Wagner/Eric Samuelsson (LSU) vs. Kamran Khan/Jesus Tapiador Barajas (Santa Clara), 5-4, unf.
Order of Finish:
Singles: 3, 1, 6, 4, 2, 5
Doubles: 2, 1