BATON ROUGE – The No. 20 LSU men’s tennis team (13-10, 4-7 SEC) suffered a 4-1 loss to No. 11 Mississippi State (16-7, 6-5 SEC) Wednesday afternoon at the Dub. This is only the Tigers’ third loss in their previous ten matches. The Bulldogs move to a perfect 6-0 mark on the road this season.
“It wasn’t our best day from a tennis standpoint,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “We really struggled with doubles to find our form.”
The doubles matches were tightly contested, but the Bulldogs were eventually able to pull away with the doubles point. On court three, LSU’s Boris Arias and Tam Trinh fell to Ethan Wilkinson and Pedro Dumont 6-8. On court one, LSU’s No. 52 Chris Simpson and Stefan Szacinski attempted to mount a comeback against No. 12 Malte Stropp and Jordan Angus, but the Bulldogs halted their efforts and earned an 8-6 victory, securing the doubles point for Mississippi State to give them a 1-0 lead over the Tigers.
The doubles match on court two between LSU’s Roger Anderson and Olivier Borsos and Mississippi State’s Romain Bogaerts and Zach White was left unfinished with the Tigers leading 7-6.
The first sets for the singles matches were close throughout as four of the six matches went to tiebreakers in the first set, with Mississippi State winning three of them. “It was a little unfortunate that we lost three out of four tiebreakers and ultimately that was the difference,” Brown said. “If we had gotten three out of four of those then things could have been a little different. It still would have been tough, but ultimately the tiebreakers in singles was the difference.”
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 2-0 on court five with a 6-2, 6-0 victory by White over LSU freshman Arias. The Bulldogs increased their lead to 3-0 behind a 7-6(4), 6-1 victory by Dumont over LSU freshman Harrison Kennedy on court six. The Tigers picked up their only point of the afternoon with a 6-3, 6-4 win by No. 104 Szacinski over No. 58 Stropp on court two. This is Szacinski’s eighth straight singles victory.
The match was clinched by Mississippi State’s James Chaudry with his 7-6(7), 6-0 victory over LSU’s Borsos on court three, ending the match with a final score of 4-1. The final two matches were left unfinished. LSU’s No. 51 Simpson trailed No. 12 Bogaerts 6-7(6), 3-2 on court one, and LSU’s Mark Bowtell was leading Angus 7-6(1), 1-2 on court four.
LSU’s final home match of the season will be a doubleheader this Saturday, April 13 against Arkansas at 12 p.m. CT followed by Jackson State at 5 p.m. CT at the Dub. It will be Senior Day and Roger Anderson, Olivier Borsos, Mark Bowtell, Stefan Szacinski, and James Tuberville will be honored during the first match. Admission is free and free pizza and beverages will be provided.
For up-to-date information and behind the scenes access on the Tigers, fans can follow the LSU men’s team on Twitter @lsutennis, and follow head coach Jeff Brown @LSUCoachJBrown and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis.
Mississippi State vs. LSU
Apr 10, 2013 at Baton Rouge, La.
(W.T. "Dub" Robinson Stadium)
#11 Mississippi State 4, #20 LSU 1
Singles competition
1. #51 Chris Simpson (LSU) vs. #12 Romain Bogaerts (MSU) 6-7 (6-8), 3-2, unfinished
2. #104 Stefan Szacinski (LSU) def. #58 Malte Stropp (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. James Chaudry (MSU) def. Olivier Borsos (LSU) 7-6 (9-7), 6-0
4. Mark Bowtell (LSU) vs. Jordan Angus (MSU) 7-6 (7-1), 1-2, unfinished
5. Zach White (MSU) def. Boris Arias (LSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Pedro Dumont (MSU) def. Harrison Kennedy (LSU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #12 Malte Stropp/Jordan Angus (MSU) def. #52 Chris Simpson/Stefan Szacinski (LSU) 8-6
2. Roger Anderson/Olivier Borsos (LSU) vs. Romain Bogaerts/Zach White (MSU) 7-6, unfinished
3. Ethan Wilkinson/Pedro Dumont (MSU) def. Boris Arias/Tam Trinh (LSU) 8-6
Match Notes:
Mississippi State 16-7; National ranking #11
LSU 13-10; National ranking #20
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (5,2,6,3)
LSU Head Coach Jeff Brown Quotes
On today’s 1-4 loss to Mississippi State…
“It wasn’t our best day from a tennis standpoint. We really struggled with doubles to find our form. We were actually really close. We had lost to their number one team 8-0 the last time we played them and we somehow found a way to be close. I was a little concerned going into singles that that might carry over, but the guys really responded well. It was a little unfortunate that we lost three out of four tiebreakers and ultimately that was the difference. If we had gotten three out of four of those then things could have been a little different. It still would have been tough, but ultimately the tiebreakers in singles was the difference.”
