BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team was edged by the No. 5-ranked Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday, 4-3, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium on Senior Day.
“We became a better team this week,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “We played three very good teams and each match was extremely close. We lost a close match to SMU on Wednesday, won a close match against Mississippi State on Friday and then lost another close match today against a highly ranked opponent. We’re a very young team and these experiences will just make us stronger in the future.”
With the loss, LSU fell to an overall record of 6-12 on the season and dropped to a 1-9 record against Southeastern Conference opponents. The Tigers have faced 11 teams ranked among the nation’s top 25 this year and Ole Miss was LSU’s fourth opponent ranked in the top five. The Tigers have also dropped hard-fought contests against No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Illinois and fourth-ranked Kentucky this season.
Ole Miss’ 52nd-ranked Kristofer Stahlberg secured the Rebels’ third-straight victory on Sunday by defeating LSU’s Peter Richman, 6-1, 7-5, on court No. 2. With the win, Ole Miss improved to an overall record of 15-4 on the season and upped its conference record to 7-3. The Rebels will close out their SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Friday.
The Rebels took an early 2-0 lead in the contest by sweeping the doubles competition and adding a quick singles victory on court No. 3. LSU sophomores Bryan Fisher and Sebastian Rutka countered with wins on courts No. 4 and No. 5 to even the score at 2-2. Fisher cruised by Ole Miss’ Paul Ciorascu, 6-3, 6-2, on court No. 4, while Rutka upended Martin Selin in the No. 5-singles match, 6-3, 6-4.
LSU senior Dan Kiernan closed out his illustrious four-year career with a bang on Sunday, as the native of Newcastle, England, upset 17th-ranked Alex Hartman in straight sets on court No. 1. The 89th-ranked Kiernan used the 7-5, 6-4 victory to move into a tie for 17th place on LSU’s all-time win list. Kiernan owns a remarkable 77-45 career singles record.
“We’re definitely going to miss both of these outstanding seniors,” Brown said. “Both Dan (Kiernan) and Jesse (Smatt) have been important members of our program since they got here four years ago and it’s going to be strange to not have them on the team anymore. They will be greatly missed, but the season’s not over with yet and we’ll need them to help us come up with some more big wins.”
The LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on Friday at 1 p.m., as the Tigers close out their SEC schedule on the road against the 18th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.
#5 Ole Miss 4, LSU 3
Doubles
1. #34 Stahlberg/Selin (UM) def. Kiernan/Hazley (LSU), 8-4
2. Gard/Ciorascu (UM) def. Fisher/Jesse Smatt (LSU), 8-6
3. Hartman/Lindholm (UM) def. Ross/Rutka (LSU), 8-2
Singles
1. #89 Dan Kiernan (LSU) def. #17 Alex Hartman (UM), 7-5, 6-4
2. #52 Kristofer Stahlberg (UM) def. Peter Richman (LSU), 6-1, 7-5
3. Catalin Gard (UM) def. Jason Hazley (LSU), 6-1, 6-2
4. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Martin Selin (UM), 6-3, 6-4
5. Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Paul Ciorascu (UM), 6-3, 6-2
6. Claes Lindholm (UM) def. Cory Ross (LSU), 6-4, 6-3
Overall Records: Ole Miss 15-4 (7-3), LSU: 6-12 (1-9)