BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 45 LSU men’s tennis team (8-6, 0-5 SEC) fell to No. 2 South Carolina (15-1, 4-0 SEC) by a score of 4-3 on Friday, March 17 at the LSU Tennis Complex. 

Doubles 

On court 2, Ronnie Hohmann and Nick Watson paired up for the first time this season against No. 22 Jake Beasley and James Story. The Tigers won the match 6-3. 

Ben Koch and George Stoupe faced Raphael Lambling and Casey Hoole in the No. 3 spot. The Gamecocks took the match 6-3. 

In the No. 1 spot, Chen Dong and Welsh Hotard competed against No. 1 Connor Thomson and Toby Samuel. South Carolina won the match 6-4 and clinched the doubles point, securing the lead 1-0. 

Singles 

On court 6, Koch faced Lucas de Silva. The Gamecock won the match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. South Carolina’s score extended to 2-0.

No. 55 Hohmann competed against No. 6 Samuel in the No. 1 spot. Samuel took the match 7-5, 6-1 and advanced South Carolina’s lead to 3-0.  

Benjamin Ambrosio faced Beasley on court 5. Set one went to Beasly 6-2, who went on to win the match 7-5 in the second set. South Carolina’s lead advanced to 4-0. The Gamecocks secured the match win and the rest of the courts played out. 

On court 4, Stoupe took the court against No. 83 Casey Hoole. The Tiger took set one 6-4 before Hoole came back to tie the match 6-0 in the second set. Stoupe secured the win in set three 7-5. LSU’s score advanced to 4-1. 

Hotard faced No. 84 Raphael Lambling in the No. 3 spot. The Gamecock won the first set 7-5 before the Tiger won the match 6-3, 10-3. This marks Hotard’s third consecutive ranked win. LSU’s score moved to 4-2. 

On court 2, Dong competed against No. 5 Connor Thomson. Set one went to Dong 6-4, but Thomson came back to even the match 6-2 in the second set. In the third set, Dong secured the win 7-5. The final score of the match was 4-3 South Carolina. 

Up Next

The Tigers will be back in the LSU Tennis Complex on Friday, March 24 to host Georgia at 5:00 p.m. CT.  

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#2 South Carolina 4, #45 LSU 3

Singles competition

  1.  #6 Toby Samuel (SC) def. #55 Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 7-5, 6-1
  2. Chen Dong (LSU) def. #5 Connor Thomson (SC) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
  3. Welsh Hotard (LSU) def. #84 Raphael Lambling (SC) 5-7, 6-3, 10-3 
  4. George Stoupe (LSU) def. #83 Casey Hoole (SC) 6-4, 0-6, 7-5
  5. Jake Beasley (SC) def. Benjamin Ambrosio (LSU) 6-2, 7-5
  6.  Lucas da Silva (SC) def. Ben Koch (LSU) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition

  1. #1 Connor Thomson/Toby Samuel (SC) def. Chen Dong/Welsh Hotard (LSU) 6-4 
  2. Ronald Hohmann/Nick Watson (LSU) def. #22 Jake Beasley/James Story (SC) 6-3 
  3. Raphael Lambling/Casey Hoole (SC) def. Ben Koch/George Stoupe (LSU) 6-3

Match Notes:

South Carolina 15-1; National ranking #2

LSU 8-6; National ranking #45

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,1,5,4,3,2)