No. 26 MSU Netmen Fall At No. 13 LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Mississippi State's 26th-ranked men's tennis team fell victim to No. 13 LSU Sunday afternoon on the road, dropping a 6-1 decision to the Tigers. The loss marked State's sixth to LSU in the teams' last seven meetings, and its sixth setback in a row in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers got on the board early by sweeping doubles play, an area where LSU is very strong in the national rankings. LSU took the first match at No. 3 doubles, as the 33rd-ranked duo of Peter Richman and Ken Skupski downed Bulldogs Matt Armstrong and Romain Provenzano 8-3. At the No. 2 spot, the Tiger tandem of Cory Ross and Sebastian Rutka posted an 8-4 victory over MSU's duo of Romain Ambert and Florent Girod. LSU would complete the sweep when 22nd-ranked Tigers Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley held off Bulldogs Luiz Carvalho and Jose-Carlos Pinto in a tiebreaker 9-8(5) at No. 1.
Things would not get much easier for MSU after that, as LSU captured the first set in five of the six singles matches to set up the team victory. State was again without the services of the senior all-American Ambert in singles play.
The Tigers gained a 2-0 lead when Ross bested Bulldog rookie Arnaud Roussel 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 5 position. LSU went up 3-0 on the day with a 6-0, 6-4 victory from Richman, who downed MSU's Girod at No. 4. The victory-clinching win would come at the No. 1 position, where LSU's 28th-ranked Skupski was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Pinto.
State secured its first and only point of the day when senior Max Fomine registered a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over LSU's Fisher at the No. 3 spot. LSU would take the final two points of the day with three-set wins. Hazley was a 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(11) winner over MSU's Carvalho at No. 2, while Rutka downed Provenzano 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 6.
The Bulldogs remain on the road this weekend, travelling to meet 10th-ranked Florida in Gainesville this Friday, April 2, and then trekking to take on South Carolina in Columbia this Sunday, April 4.
#13 LSU 6, #26 MISSISSIPPI STATE 1
DOUBLES - #22 Bryan Fisher/Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Luiz Carvalho/Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) 9-8(5); Cory Ross/Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Romain Ambert/Florent Girod (MSU) 8-4; #33 Peter Richman/Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Matt Armstrong/Romain Provenzano (MSU) 8-3.
SINGLES - #28 Skupski (LSU) def. Pinto (MSU) 6-1, 6-3; Hazley (LSU) def. Carvalho (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(11); Fomine (MSU) def. Fisher (LSU) 7-5, 6-3; Richman (LSU) def. Girod (MSU) 6-0, 6-4; Ross (LSU) def. Arnaud Roussel (MSU) 6-1, 6-2; Rutka (LSU) def. Provenzano (MSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
(numbers preceding names are current national rankings)