No. 44 Men's Tennis Defeats No. 14 Texas A&M, 4-3; Advances to SEC Quarterfinal
BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU Men’s Tennis team (15-12) will advance to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament after defeating No. 14 Texas A&M by a score of 4-3 in Thursday’s match at the LSU Tennis Complex.
“In doubles, we started off a little tentative and got down,” said head coach Danny Bryan. “We ended up working our way back to have a chance at the doubles point but we didn’t get it which was disappointing. It certainly is an important point.”
“We haven’t won a match this year where we have lost the doubles point so to do that against a top 15 team was tough. We’ve been through a lot. We started off really well in the season in our first SEC match against South Carolina, which was a top 20 team, on the road, but then we lost 11 straight. That whole match was symbolic of our season. The guys are staying with it and not checking out. In the tiebreaker, being down 6-1 is another example of the guys’ toughness. They just aren’t giving up and I am so proud of them. Every match getting to play at home is an incredible experience for this team. Being able to play in front of that crowd that cheered us on was great and hopefully tomorrow we can get an even bigger crowd on a Friday night.”
Goodnight, Tigers 😴 pic.twitter.com/ZXELie0gYl
— LSU Men’s Tennis (@LSUTennis) April 19, 2024
Doubles
The Tigers dropped the doubles point in the match. On the No. 2 court, Lathan Skrobarcek and JC Roddick defeated Ben Koch and Stefan Latinovic by a score of 6-2.
On the No. 1 court, the Aggies clinched the doubles point after Giulio Perego and Togan Tokac defeated Julien Penzlin and Chen Dong by a score of 7-6(5).
Singles
LSU continued to battle it out in singles despite losing the doubles point. On the No. 4 court, Julien Penzlin improved his win streak to four after defeating Giulio Perego by a score of 6-1, 6-4. Penzlin continues to lead the Tigers in singles wins this season with a 15-6 dual record.
On the No. 3 court, Rudy Ceccon saw success against Togan Takac in a 6-3, 6-1 win, making the score 2-1 for the Tigers. He earned his tenth singles win this season against Takac. Ceccon has bounced around courts two, three, four, and five.
The Aggies closed the gap, making the score 2-2 after No. 24 Raphael Perot defeated Stefan Latinovic by a narrow score of 6-4, 6-4.
Tiago Pires created a 3-2 lead for Texas A&M after defeating Chen Dong on the No. 5 court by a score of 6-4, 6-4.
Welsh Hotard fought in three sets to earn his match point on the No. 6 court against Luke Casper. He defeated Casper in the first set with a score of 6-2. Casper took the second set by a score of 6-4, forcing a third set. Hotard came back and won the final set by a score of 6-3, making the score 3-3 and leaving it up to the final match on the No. 2 court. He has earned five wins this season between courts four and five.
Alessio Vasquez defeated No. 38 JC Roddick on the No. 2 court in three sets to clinch the match for the Tigers and advance the team to the quarterfinals. The first set went to Roddick by a narrow score of 6-4. Vasquez took the second set with a score of 7-5. In the final set tiebreaker, Vasquez overcame a 6-1 deficit and staved off five straight match points to come back and tie it 6-6. After going back and forth, Vasquez won three straight points to grab a 10-8 win and clinch the match for his team. He is on a win streak of four and has earned five wins between courts one, two, four, and five.
Results
#44 LSU 4, #14 Texas A&M 3
Doubles
- Perego/Tokac (TAMU) def. Penzlin/Dong (LSU) 7-6(5)
- Skrobarcek/Roddick (TAMU) def. Koch/Latinovic (LSU) 6-2
- Hotard/Lofman (LSU) vs. Pires/Perot (TAMU) 6-6, unfinished
Singles
- #24 Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. Stefan Latinovic (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
- Alessio Vasquez (LSU) def. #38 JC Roddick (TAMU) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-8)
- Rudy Ceccon (LSU) def. Togan Tokac (TAMU) 6-3, 6-1
- Julien Penzlin (LSU) def. Giulio Perego (TAMU) 6-1, 6-4
- Tiago Pires (TAMU) def. Chen Dong (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
- Welsh Hotard (LSU) def. Luke Casper (TAMU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Match Notes:
Texas A&M 18-10; National ranking #14 LSU 15-12; National ranking #44
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (4,3,1,5,6,2)
Up Next
The Tigers will play in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament against Auburn (17-9) Friday, April 19 at 6 p.m. CST at the LSU Tennis Complex.
Fans can buy tickets at LSUtix.net. Adults can purchase all-session passes for $15 and all-session passes for youth (12 and under) for $12. Day passes can also be purchased at $5 for adults and $2 for youth. Gates will open one hour prior to the first match of each day. The match will be free for LSU Students.
#44 LSU vs. #21 Auburn
Notes on Auburn
Auburn is currently ranked at No. 21 in the latest ITA rankings with a 17-9 record on the season and a 7-5 record in conference play.
Auburn has two players in the singles rankings. Tyler Stice sits at No. 29 with a record of 8-7 on the season. Finn Murgett is ranked No. 60 with a 13-2 record on the season.
Finn Murgett appears in doubles rankings as well with Raul Dobai at No. 21. The duo has a narrow 8-7 record on the season.
Series History
In series history, LSU and Auburn have a 38-18, in favor of the Louisiana Tigers.
The teams last met last Sunday in Alabama where Auburn defeated LSU by a score of 4-1. LSU earned the doubles point.
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