GAINESVILLE, Fla. —The LSU men’s tennis team secured three singles victories Sunday afternoon, but it was not enough as the Tigers fell to No. 13 Florida, 4-3, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
With the win, Florida improves to 8-5, 1-1 in SEC play on the year while LSU falls to 2-8 and 0-2 in conference.
Coach Brown on the Match
“We pushed ourselves and Florida to the limit,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “We had two tough 4-3 losses to top-20 teams. If we harness the energy and pain from the losses, we will get stronger and be better from it moving forward.”
Doubles Point
Florida took the early 1-0 lead as No. 9 Johannes Ingildsen and Alfredo Perez defeated Jordan Daigle and Julian Saborio, 6-0, on court one. Maxx Lipman and Elliot Orkin took the 6-3 win on court two against Justin Butsch and Gabor Csonka to give Florida the lead moving to singles play.
Singles Results
The Gators extended their lead to 2-0 after Lipman defeated Eric Samuelsson, 6-4, 6-2 on court five.
Freshman Agie Moreno stepped in on court six for the Tigers but fell in straight sets to No. 120 Jordan Belga, 6-1, 6-2, as Florida took the 3-0 lead.
The Tigers fought back to earn back-to-back points on courts two and one, respectively, to put the score at 3-2.
On court two, Butsch defeated No. 92 Orkin in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, for his third-straight win.
Daigle notched his second consecutive win against a ranked opponent on court one, earning a hard-fought 7-5, 6-2 victory on court one against No. 6 Perez.
Florida clinched the match on court four when Ingildsen took the win against Nikola Samardzic in the second set tiebreaker, 6-4, 7-6.
The Tigers added their final point on court three as Csonka notched a 7-6, 6-3 win against Chase Perez-Blanco.
Next Up
The Tigers return to the LSU Tennis Complex and search for their first SEC win of the season Friday against Kentucky at 5 p.m.
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.
March 5, 2017 LSU vs. Florida at Gainesville, Fla. (Ring Tennis Complex)
Singles
1. Jordan Daigle (LSU) def. No. 6 Alfredo Perez (Florida), 7-5, 6-2
2. No. 41 Justin Butsch (LSU) def. No. 92 Elliott Orkin (Florida), 6-4, 6-3
3. Gabor Csonka (LSU) def. Chase Perez-Blanco (Florida), 7-6, 6-3
4. Johannes Ingildsen (Florida) def. Nikola Samardzic (LSU), 6-4, 7-6
5. Maxx Lipman (Florida) def. Eric Samuelsson (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
6. No. 120 Jordan Belga (Florida) def. Agie Moreno (LSU), 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
1. No. 9 Johannes Ingildsen/Alfredo Perez (Florida) def. Jordan Daigle/Julian Saborio (LSU), 6-0
2. Maxx Lipman/Elliott Orkin (Florida) def. Justin Butsch/Gabor Csonka (LSU), 6-3
3. Joshua Wardell/Chase Perez-Blanco (Florida) vs. Rafael Wagner/Nikola Samardzic (LSU), 5-4 unf.
Order of Finish:
Singles: 5, 6, 2, 1, 4, 3
Doubles: 1, 2