BATON ROUGE — The No. 20 LSU men’s tennis team swept a doubleheader against Southern Miss and Jackson State Saturday at the LSU Tennis Complex.
The Tigers defeated Southern Miss by a score of 7-0 and were nearly flawless in a 4-0 win against Jackson State.
With the wins, LSU improves to 11-1 on the season while Southern Miss falls to 2-4 and Jackson State drops to 2-14.
Co-Head Coach Chris Brandi on the Match
“It was good to be home finally,” co-head coach Chris Brandi said. “Southern Miss is a tough team, and they played really well in doubles. Our guys took care of business today. We had a couple of matches in the second set where it was closer than we would have liked but credit to our opponents. Our guys did a good job today.”
Match One vs. Southern Miss
Doubles Point
It was a quick round of doubles for court two pair Shane Monroe and Daniel Moreno, who were the first off of the courts after defeating Tom Cecchetto and Mieszko Kwasniewski, 6-2.
No. 45 duo Rafael Wagner and Joey Thomas wrapped up doubles play for the Tigers with a dominating 6-1 win against Jorman Reyes and Chung-Han Tsai on court one to give LSU the 1-0 lead.
Singles Results
The Tigers made it a 2-0 match when freshman Boris Kozlov swept Chun-Han Tsai, 6-2, 6-1 on court four.
Wagner recorded back-to-back 6-2 sets on court two to take a victory from Matthieu Peres and increase the LSU lead to 3-0.
Thomas clinched the match on court five with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win against Panji Setiawan. The Tigers continued to play out the match, and freshman Nick Watson extended the LSU lead to 5-0 with a 6-4, 6-0 match against Mieszko Kwasniewski on court six.
Sophomore Malik Bhatnagar secured the Tigers’ sixth point of the match after defeating Reyes, 6-2, 7-5, on court three.
The Tigers completed the sweep on court one. It was a tight match as No. 112 Monroe won the first set, 7-5, and finished the match in a tiebreaker against Tom Cecchetto, 7-6(2).
Match Two vs. Jackson State
Doubles Point
After playing the first match of the day on court three, Kozlov and Watson moved up to the second court. The freshman pair dominated in a 6-0 win against Thomas Torres and Fritz Jacobs.
The Tigers took the doubles point after Wagner and y Thomas swiftly defeated Andrey Alawi and Richy Gamo, 6-1.
Singles Results
Bhatnagar was the first off of the court and gave the Tigers the 2-0 lead after sweeping Torres, 6-0, 6-0, at the second spot.
Thomas followed with a back-to-back 6-0 sets against Fritz Jacobs on court three to put LSU up 3-0.
The Tigers clinched the match on court one when Monroe worked 6-1, 6-1 sets against Alawi, to secure the 4-0 win.
Next Up
LSU will open up SEC play on the road at Alabama on Friday, March 1 at 6 p.m. CT. The Tigers will wrap up the weekend at Auburn on Sunday, March 3 at noon CT before returning home for a contest against Tennessee on March 7 at 5 p.m. CT.
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LSU 7, Southern Miss 0
Singles competition
1. #112 Shane Monroe (LSU) def. Tom Cecchetto (USM) 7-5, 7-6 (7-2)
2. Rafael Wagner (LSU) def. Matthieu Peres (USM) 6-2, 6-2
3. Malik Bhatnagar (LSU) def. Jorman Reyes (USM) 6-2, 7-5
4. Boris Kozlov (LSU) def. Chung-Han Tsai (USM) 6-2, 6-1
5. Joey Thomas (LSU) def. Panji Setiawan (USM) 6-4, 6-2
6. Nick Watson (LSU) def. Mieszko Kwasniewski (USM) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #45 Rafael Wagner/Joey Thomas (LSU) def. Jorman Reyes/Chung-Han Tsai (USM) 6-1
2. Shane Monroe/Daniel Moreno (LSU) def. Tom Cecchetto/Mieszko Kwasniewski (USM) 6-2
3. Boris Kozlov/Nick Watson (LSU) vs. Panji Setiawan/Matthieu Peres (USM) 4-3, unfinished
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,2,6,5,1,3)
LSU 4, Jackson State 0
Singles competition
1. #112 Shane Monroe (LSU) def. Andrey Alawi (JACKM) 6-1, 6-1
2. Malik Bhatnagar (LSU) def. Thomas Torres (JACKM) 6-0, 6-0
3. Boris Kozlov (LSU) def. Fritz Jacobs (JACKM) 6-0, 6-0
4. Joey Thomas (LSU) vs. Lebelo Mosehle (JACKM) 6-3, 4-1, unfinished
5. Nick Watson (LSU) vs. Juan Soria (JACKM) 6-4, 0-1, unfinished
6. Daniel Moreno (LSU) vs. Richy Gamo (JACKM) 6-3, 3-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #45 Rafael Wagner/Joey Thomas (LSU) def. Andrey Alawi/Richy Gamo (JACKM) 6-1
2. Boris Kozlov/Nick Watson (LSU) def. Thomas Torres/Fritz Jacobs (JACKM) 6-0
3. Malik Bhatnagar/Ruy Teixeira (LSU) vs. Juan Soria/Lebelo Mosehle (JACKM) 5-1, unfinished
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,3,1)