Sunday, 04/01/2012

OXFORD, Miss. --- Both junior Olivier Borsos and freshman Chris Simpson highlighted the day for the Tigers Sunday with wins over ranked opponents as the Tigers fell 5-2 to the No. 14 Ole Miss Rebels at Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

No. 98 Simpson put the Tigers on the board with his 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win over No. 40 Jonas Lutjen of Ole Miss on court three.

Meanwhile on the top court, No. 55 Olivier Borsos battled to claim a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (8) thriller over Ole Miss’s 19th-ranked Nik Scholtz.

After dropping his first set, Borsos stormed back to take the second set in a tiebreaker and send the match into a super tiebreaker where Borsos took down No. 19 Scholtz, 10-8.

LSU (11-9, SEC 2-6) kept the match close, but ultimately could not defeat the Rebels.

The Tigers got off to a slow start in doubles, meeting defeat on all three courts.

On court one, Neal Skupski and Chris Simpson could not hold off No. 63 Scholtz and Jonas Lutjen in a contest that ended with the score of 8-5.

On court two, the No. 12 Ole Miss tandem of Marcel Thiemann and Chris Thiemann defeated Borsos and Tom Knights 8-2.

James Turbervill and Roger Anderson did not see any different results on the final court, losing 8-5 to William Kallberg and Johan Backstrom.

Down 1-0, the Tigers looked to get on the board in singles play. Unfortunately, their first win would come after the Rebels had already clinched in their favor.

Both Skupski and Turbervill fell to No. 36 M.Thiemann and No. 63 Kallberg, respectively, before Backstrom clinched the match in straight sets over LSU's Stefan Szacinski.

“It has been a tough stretch of matches with high ranked opponents,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “We will return home and look to improve as we go into the final stretch of the season.”

As the regular season begins to wind down, LSU looks to jump back into SEC contention with a win over South Carolina on Friday.

The match is set to begin at 3 p.m. CT at W.T. Dub Robinson Stadium.

Be sure to follow LSU on Twitter at @lsutennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis for the latest information on the Tigers.

LSU vs Ole Miss
Apr. 1, 2012 at Oxford, Miss.
(Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center)
#14 Ole Miss 5, #27 LSU 2

Singles

1. #55 Olivier Borsos (LSU) def. #19 Nik Scholtz (OM) 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 10-8
2. #36 Marcel Thiemann (OM) def. #73 Neal Skupski (LSU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Chris Simpson (LSU) def. #40 Jonas Lutjen (OM) 6-1, 5-7, 6-2
4. #63 William Kallberg (OM) def. James Turbervill (LSU) 6-4, 6-1
5. Johan Backstrom (OM) def. Stefan Szacinski (LSU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Adrian Skogeng (OM) def. Tom Knights (LSU) 4-6, 6-3, 10-7

Doubles

1. #63 Nik Scholtz/Jonas Lutjen (OM) def. Neal Skupski/Chris Simpson (LSU) 8-5
2. #12 Marcel Thiemann/Chris Thiemann (OM) def. Olivier Borsos/Tom Knights (LSU) 8-2
3. William Kallberg/Johan Backstrom (OM) def. James Turbervill/Roger Anderson (LSU) 8-5

Match Notes:

LSU 11-9, 2-6; National ranking #27
Ole Miss 10-5, 6-2; National ranking #14
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,4,5,3,6,1)