BATON ROUGE — The ninth-ranked LSU men’s tennis team won its seventh consecutive match on Sunday with a 5-2 victory over Southeastern Conference foe Arkansas.
The win improves LSU to 15-2 on the year and 6-1 in conference play.
“We did a good job of avoiding a let down today after beating Ole Miss earlier this week,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “We got out to a quick start on most of the courts and that carried us to victory.”
LSU opened the match by winning the doubles point for the 15th time in 16 matches the season. The point was clinched when Jesse Smatt and Ajay Ramawswami beat Eduardo Pacheco and Alexi Bubis 8-4 at No. 3.
The 14th-ranked dou of Michal Chmela and Dan Kiernan also posted a win, an 8-6 victory at No. 1 over Oskar Johansson and Chris Campbell.
“Doubles set the tone for us once again today. Getting out to a quick 1-0 lead always gives us momentum heading into singles,” said Brown.
Once in singles, LSU took charge by winning the first set on five of six courts. Kiernan was the first Tiger to finish as he cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Bubis at No. 4.
Senior Ed Rubin was quick to follow with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 5 over Eduardo Pacheco. Rubin’s win gave LSU a 3-0 lead.
“Ed played solid for us today,” said Brown. “He has been working hard on his game lately and it is beginning to show.”
With the Razorbacks in a hole, 15th-ranked Johansson beat LSU’s 28th-ranked Chmela, 6-1, 7-5 to close the gap to 3-1.
However, Jesse Smatt finished off Arkansas with his win at No. 6 over John Deaton, 6-4, 6-2.
Each team would add another victory to reach the final score.
#9 LSU 5, #63 ARKANSAS 2
April 2, 2000
SINGLES
No. 1 – #15 Oskar Johansson (UA) def. #28 Michal Chmela (LSU), 6-1, 7-5
No. 2 – #22 Tom Hand (LSU) def. #77 Henrik Tofft (UA), 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 – Magnus Kullenberh (UA) def. Ajay Ramaswami (LS), 0-6, 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 – Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. Alexi Bubis (UA), 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 – Ed Rubin (LSU) def. Eduardo Pacheco (UA), 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 – Jesse Smatt (LSU) def. John Deaton (UA), 6-4, 6-2*
DOUBLES
No. 1 – #14 Chmela-Kiernan (LSU) def. Johansson-Campbell (UA), 8-6
No. 2 – Hand-Rubin (LSU) vs. Deaton-Tofft (UA), suspended
No. 3 – Smatt-Ramasawmi (LSU) def. Pacheco-Bubis (UA), 8-4*