State Netters Upset By LSU On The Road
May 25, 2016 | Men's Tennis
With the setback, State fell to 9-9 overall, 2-7 in the SEC. LSU improved to 6-11, 1-8, and upped its lead in the series with the Bulldogs to 24-8-1.
LSU claimed the opening point of the day with victories at the bottom two doubles positions. State's 24th-ranked team of Romain Ambert and Rene-Charles Combette did salvage a win at the No. 1 spot, downing Tigers Daniel Kiernan and Jason Hazley 8-3.
In singles, the Tigers came out roaring, taking the first set in all six matches, but State would split sets in five of those contests to setup an extremely close finish to the match.
LSU did gain a quick 2-0 lead when Cory Ross ousted MSU's Max Fomine 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 6 position in the only match that did not see a third frame.
Bulldog Jerome Le Belicard cut the lead to 2-1 when he notched a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 come-from-behind triumph over LSU's Sebastian Rutka at the No. 4 spot. It was his second-straight win after eight consecutive setbacks. The Tigers upped the lead to 3-1 when Bryan Fisher outlasted MSU freshman Aymeric Henou 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 5.
State's Ambert, ranked seventh nationally in singles, cut the LSU advantage back to 3-2 when he broke a two-match losing skid with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Kiernan (ranked 89th) at the No. 1 spot. It was Ambert's 33rd victory of the year, making him the first Bulldog since Thomas Dupre in 1996 to win 33 matches in a single season and only the fifth MSU player to win that total or more in the modern era.
With MSU needing the last two points, both of the final two matches (position Nos. 2 and 3) would go to third-set tiebreakers and LSU would claim victory in both of them. Clinching the match was Hazley, who held off Bulldog Luiz Carvalho 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1) at No. 3. Peter Richman completed scoring for the Tigers with a 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(5) upset over State's 78th-ranked Rene-Charles Combette at No. 2.
"I'm very disappointed with this loss," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "We knew this would be a tough one down here, but we dug too big of a hole in singles to be able to come out of it. Even though we did a good job of fighting back, you just can't expect to lose the first set in every match and still be able to win. We have a big match, our last one at home, coming up Sunday and we have to focus on it now."
The Bulldogs return to Starkville Sunday to close out their 2002 regular season home schedule, hosting 18th-ranked Arkansas. Match time is set for 1 p.m. at MSU's A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
#55 LSU 5, #28 MISSISSIPPI STATE 2
DOUBLES -- #24 Romain Ambert/Rene-Charles Combette (MSU) def. Jason Hazley/Daniel Kiernan (LSU) 8-3; Cory Ross/Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Max Fomine/Aymeric Henou (MSU) 8-4; Bryan Fisher/Jesse Smatt (LSU) def. Luiz Carvalho/Jerome Le Belicard (MSU) 8-5.
SINGLES -- #7 Ambert (MSU) def. #89 Kiernan (LSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; Peter Richman (LSU) def. #78 Combette (MSU) 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(5); Hazley (LSU) def. Carvalho (MSU) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1); Le Belicard (MSU) def. Rutka (LSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Fisher (LSU) def. Henou (MSU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Ross (LSU) def. Fomine (MSU) 6-3, 6-1.
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)
