LSU Gold

Men's Tennis Falls to Memphis

by Christian Verde
+0
Men's Tennis Falls to Memphis

BATON ROUGE— The LSU men’s tennis team fell to the Memphis Tigers, 4-1, Wednesday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex.

LSU falls to 10-6 on the season and 9-3 in out-of-conference play. LSU is 1-3 in the month of March with two crucial matches in Mississippi this weekend, one at No. 15 Ole Miss Friday and the other at Mississippi State on Sunday.  

Doubles

LSU had an up-and-down day from the start. Doubles started off with a Memphis sweep on court one. Sophomore Daniel Moreno and freshman Ronald Hohmann couldn’t pick up a game win, losing 6-0. Court two was a different story. Senior Rafael Wagner and junior Joey Thomas went up 5-0 to start their match and ended up winning it, 6-1. Junior Malik Bhatnagar and sophomore Boris Kozlov secured the doubles point with a 6-3 victory.

Singles

The Tigers couldn’t manage to get anything going in singles Wednesday afternoon. Memphis hopped out to a quick 2-1 lead after wins on court six and court two. Memphis’s Patrick Sydow defeated Joey Thomas, only dropping two games in a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Malik Bhatnagar dropped the first set 6-3 but couldn’t pick up in a game in the second, falling to Oscar Cutting, 6-3, 6-0. Memphis took a 3-1 lead after Rafael Wagner fell to James Story. Wagner split the first two sets, going 2-6, 6-4, but fell behind early in the third and couldn’t dig out of it, dropping the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Memphis clinched the match on court one after Jan Pallares, 4-6, 7-6(4), 1-6. After Hohmann dropped the first set, he turned around and won an intense second-set tiebreak. He couldn’t get it going in the third-set, only picking up one game.

Coaches Corner

Co-head-coach Chris Brandi said it best. Short, but to the point about Wednesday’s performance. “It’s a disappointing day. We didn’t get the guys ready to compete and Memphis wanted it more. They’re a talented team and deserved the win,” Brandi said.

Up Next

The Tigers are back in SEC play this weekend, facing No. 15 Ole Miss on Friday and Mississippi State Sunday.

Memphis 4, #46 LSU 1

Singles (6, 2, 3, 1)

1. Jan Pallares (MEM) def. Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1

2. Oscar Cutting (MEM) def. Malik Bhatnagar (LSU) 6-3, 6-0

3. James Story (MEM) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

4. Boris Kozlov (LSU) vs. David Stevenson (MEM) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 3-2, unfinished

5. Tomas Descarrega (LSU) vs. Jeremy Taylor (MEM) 7-6 (10-8), 3-3, unfinished

6. Patrick Sydow (MEM) def. Joey Thomas (LSU) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles (Order of Finish 1, 2, 3)

1. David Stevenson/Jan Pallares (MEM) def. Daniel Moreno/Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 6-0

2. Rafael Wagner/Joey Thomas (LSU) def. Oscar Cutting/James Story (MEM) 6-1

3. Malik Bhatnagar/Boris Kozlov (LSU) def. Matt Story/Marshall Sullivan (MEM) 6-3

Match Notes:

Memphis 5-9

LSU 10-6; National ranking #46

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,2,3,1)

Official: Richie Weaver