BATON ROUGE — The 26th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team dominated the sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday, as the Tigers earned a huge Southeastern Conference victory, 4-1, at home in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We played very well today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “In the beginning, it was hard to control our players’ enthusiasm, because they remembered the loss to Tennessee last year. But our guys did a good job of keeping their composure, and they still played with a certain degree of controlled rage. This team definitely deserved the win.”
With LSU ahead in the match, 3-1, and the Volunteers leading by a set on both courts No. 4 and 5, the Tigers’ 10th-ranked Ajay Ramaswami clinched LSU’s fourth-SEC victory of the season by defeating Tennessee’s 44th-ranked Adam Carey, 6-3, 6-4, on court No. 1. Ramaswami improved to an overall record of 21-11 with the win.
The Tiger tennis team upped its dual-match record to 11-3 on Saturday, while Tennessee dropped to an overall mark of 10-3. LSU handed the Volunteers their first-SEC loss of the season and improved to a 4-2 conference record. Tennessee fell to a 4-1 mark against SEC opponents.
LSU gained the early momentum in the match by claiming the doubles point.
The Tigers’ 29th-ranked doubles team comprised of Dan Kiernan and Sebastian Rutka topped Tennessee’s pair of Paul Podbury and Mario Toledo, 8-6, on court No. 1 to clinch the doubles point.
The Tigers’ No. 3 doubles combination of Ramaswami and Anthony Mateljan picked up the LSU’s first-doubles point of the contest with an 8-6 victory over the Volunteers’ Wade Orr and Simon Rea.
“This is a very big win for us,” Brown said. “We’ve dropped a couple of close ones already this season, and if you give yourself enough chances against good teams, then you’ll get wins. It’s a good step for us, and we just have to get ready for three-tough battles next week.”
Kiernan, the Tigers’ 64th-ranked sophomore from Newcastle, England, earned his seventh-straight victory on Saturday, as he handily defeated 80th-ranked Mark Parsons on court No. 2, 6-4, 6-2. With the win, Kiernan improved to an overall record of 19-6 and a 13-1 mark in dual matches. He is undefeated in No. 2 singles play this season and owns a perfect 12-0 record on court No. 2.
The Tigers’ Mateljan picked up the first-singles victory of the match on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Tennessee’s Wade Orr on court No. 6.
Mateljan has proved to be a valuable asset for the Tigers this past week, as he has compiled a 2-1 record after filling in for the injured Bryan Fisher.
The 26th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, as the Tigers travel to Auburn, Ala., for an SEC duel with the 12th-ranked Auburn Tigers.
#26 LSU: 4, #6 Tennessee: 1
Singles
1. #10 Ajay Ramaswami (LSU) def. #44 Adam Carey (UT), 6-3, 6-4.
2. #64 Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. #80 Mark Parson (UT), 6-4, 6-2.
3. #33 Peter Handoyo (UT) def. Sanjin Sadovich (LSU), 7-6(5), 6-2.
4. Jesse Smatt (LSU) vs. #74 Paul Podbury (UT), suspended.
5. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) vs. #62 Mario Toledo (UT), suspended.
6. Anthony Mateljan (LSU) def. Wade Orr (UT), 6-3, 6-1.
Doubles
1. #29 Kiernan/Rutka (LSU) def. Podbury/Toledo (UT), 8-6.
2. #40 Smatt/Sadovich (LSU) vs. #12 Carey/Parsons (UT), suspended.
3. Mateljan/Ramaswami (LSU) def. Wade Orr/Simon Rea (UT), 8-6.