College Tennis News - No. 14 LSU Defeats UNO 4-0 Despite Privateer Win Over No. 9 Tigers' Duo

BATON ROUGE, La. - No. 14 ranked LSU defeated the University of New Orleans 4-0 on Saturday night at W.T. "Dub" Robinson Stadium.

UNO (7-5) did not go silently as Calvin Kemp and Ben Smith topped the No. 9 ranked doubles tandem of Michael Venus and Neal Skupski 8-4 on the No. 1 doubles' court.

The win, the first for Kemp and Smith handed Venus and Skupski their first loss of the dual season. The LSU (4-2) duo was 5-0 entering the match, including victories over the No. 4 and No. 7 ranked doubles' teams in the nation this spring.

"It was a flawless performance by both of our players, they played superb tennis and at a very high level," said head coach Burzis Kanga. "This was a great win for us and goes to show that any given day, we can play with the best."

The Privateers would drop the doubles' point for the seventh straight match, as the Tigers would pick up victories in the other two matches.

Sebastian Carlsson and Julien Gauthier dispatched Oliver Cuthill and Guilherme Rebolo 8-1 on the No. 2 court, putting the deciding match on court No. 3. The deciding match went LSU's way as Mark Botwell and James Cluskey emerged over Vinay Kamineni and Jose Gaspar, breaking a 5-5 tie by winning three straight games to claim victory 8-5.

"Despite losing the doubles' point, this was the best we've played across the board in doubles," said Kanga. "Kamineni and Gaspar had a chance to go up 3-0, dropping a few break points, which shifted the momentum the other way."

In singles' action, the Tigers won the first three matches completed in straight sets to clinch the match.

Gauthier was the first one finished, defeating Gaspar 6-1, 6-2 on the No. 4 court. Skupski and Botwell at No. 2 and No. 5 would not be far behind. Skupski defeated Kamineni 6-2, 6-4 while Botwell bested Cuthill 6-2, 6-2.

The lone set won by a Privateer came from Abdelrahman Zaki, who opened up play at No. 6 against David Roberts by taing the first set 6-1. Zaki dropped the second set 6-1 and trailed 1-0 in the third in a match that was not finished.

The Privateers will host Xavier (N.O), Jackson State and Austin Peay next weekend at the University Tennis Center. The action begins Friday, Mar. 6 against Xavier at 3 p.m.

#14 Louisiana State University 4, University of New Orleans 0
Feb 28, 2009 at Baton Rouge, La. (W.T "Dub" Robinson Stadium)

Singles competition
1. #5 Michael Venus (LSU) vs. Calvin Kemp (UNO) 6-3, 4-2, unfinished
2. Neal Skupski (LSU) def. Vinay Kamineni (UNO) 6-4, 6-4
3. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) vs. Ben Smith (UNO) 6-1, 5-4, unfinished
4. Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Jose Gaspar (UNO) 6-1, 6-2
5. Mark Botwell (LSU) def. Oliver Cuthill (UNO) 6-2, 6-2
6. David Roberts (LSU) vs. Abdelrahman Zaki (UNO) 1-6, 6-1, 1-0, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. Calvin Kemp/Ben Smith (UNO) def. #9 Neal Skupski/Michael Venus (LSU) 8-4
2. Sebastian Carlsson/Julien Gauthier (LSU) def. Guilherme Rebolo/Oliver Cuthill (UNO) 8-1
3. James Cluskey/Mark Botwell (LSU) def. Vinay Kamineni/Jose Gaspar (UNO) 8-5

Match Notes
University of New Orleans 7-5
Louisiana State University 4-2; National ranking #14
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,2,5)