BATON ROUGE—The LSU men’s team fell to No. 10 Kentucky, 4-2, Friday night at the LSU Tennis Complex.
Doubles
LSU picked up their first SEC doubles point since March 27 against No. 4 Tennessee and it came against another top-10 team in No. 10 Kentucky. Ben Koch and Nick Watson started the scoring off with a 6-3 victory over Liam Draxl and J.J. Mercer on court three. Vlad Lobak and Ronald Hohmann fell to Francois Musitelli and Millen Hurrion, 4-6, so all eyes fell to court two where Gabriel Diaz Freire and Kent Hunter went into a tiebreak against Gabriel Diallo and Joshua Lapadat. The tiebreak went from 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, to 8-8, then Diaz Freire/Hunter rung off two points to win the tiebreak and secure the doubles point, 7-6(8).
Singles
LSU’s 1-0 lead did not last long, as No. 13 Gabriel Diallo took down Vlad Lobak on court two, 3-6, 1-6. The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead as No. 69 Millen Hurrion defeated Kent Hunter, 6-3, 6-4. LSU tied the match back up after Boris Kozlov won in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-4, over J.J. Mercer. The battle would continue as courts one, four, and five would head to a third-set. Gabriel Diaz Freire won his first set, but dropped the next two as Francois Musitelli pushed the match to 3-2 with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 victory. The clash between two top-40s in No. 40 Ronald Hohmann and No. 21 Liam Draxl would come down to the third set, but Draxl bested Hohmann, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, and clinched the victory for Kentucky, 4-2. Joao Graca’s match would go unfinished at 6-3, 1-6, 5-6.
Next Up
LSU will face Arkansas in their regular-season finale on Sunday, April 17 at 1:00 p.m. The Senior Tribute for Gabriel Diaz Freire, Boris Kozlov, Vlad Lobak, and Nick Watson, will begin before the match at approximately 12:50 p.m.
#10 Kentucky 4, #41 LSU 2
Singles
- #21 Liam Draxl (UK) def. #40 Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
- #13 Gabriel Diallo (UK) def. Vlad Lobak (LSU) 6-3, 6-1
- #69 Millen Hurrion (UK) def. Kent Hunter (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
- Francois Musitelli (UK) def. Gabriel Diaz Freire (LSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
- Joao Graca (LSU) vs. #117 Joshua Lapadat (UK) 6-3, 1-6, 5-6, unfinished
- Boris Kozlov (LSU) def. JJ Mercer (UK) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
- Francois Musitelli/Millen Hurrion (UK) def. Vlad Lobak/Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 6-4
- Gabriel Diaz Freire/Kent Hunter (LSU) def. #87 Gabriel Diallo/Joshua Lapadat (UK) 7-6 (10-8)
- Ben Koch/Nick Watson (LSU) def. Liam Draxl/JJ Mercer (UK) 6-3
Match Notes:
Kentucky 18-6 (9-2 SEC); National ranking #10
LSU 13-10 (3-8 SEC); National ranking #41
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,3,6,4,1)