The University of Mississippi Athletics
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LSU
LSU Edges Ole Miss In Baton Rouge
3/31/2006 | Men's Tennis
March 31, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La. - The No. 10 nationally ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team lost a tough match, 4-3, to No. 19 LSU on the road at the Dub Robinson Tennis Stadium Friday afternoon. The Rebels travel to Fayetteville for a 1 p.m. match Sunday against the Razorbacks.
The defeat ended the Rebels (15-3, 5-2) seven match winning streak, while LSU (12-7, 5-2) notched its second top 10 win in a week.
The doubles point came down to a first set tiebreaker at No.1 doubles after Ole Miss won 8-5 at No. 3 to set up the clinching match. Erling Tveit and Eric Claesson, ranked No. 15 in the nation, faced 12th-ranked Ken Skupski and Mark Growcott, 2005 NCAA Doubles Runner-up. The Tiger duo won 7-5 to give LSU a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers gained a 2-0 advantage after Bram ten Berge fell to Danny Bryan in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
Robbye Poole put the Rebels on the board with his 6-2, 7-6 win on court six. He improved to 11-3 in dual matches.
Court one featured a battle between two of the top players in the nation and the SEC. Rebel sophomore Erling Tveit, ranked No. 16 battled No. 22 Ken Skupski. Skupski took the first set 6-4, but Tveit came back to win the second 6-3. Down 3-4, Tveit had 15-40 on Skupski's serve to even the set, but the Tiger rallied to hold and then broke for the win to increase LSU's lead to 3-1.
The match was decided on court two with OM's Eric Claesson facing Tiger Colt Gaston. Gaston battled to take the first set 7-5 but the two were all even at 4-4 in the second. Claesson led 40-15 on his serve, but Gaston erased the deficit and held his serve to clinch the team victory.
"The match came down to No. 1 doubles," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "They were NCAA finalists a year ago, and they played like it. We didn't play well at No. 3 singles. We had chances at No. 1 singles to pull even in the third set, and on Eric's match we were right there. If he would have won the second set, I feel like the match was ours. We played well at the bottom three courts."
Ole Miss won the final two matches in three setters. Senior Juan Pablo Di Cesare finished off Mark Growcott 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 at No. 4 singles to improve to 12-1. He has won eight in a row. Jakob Klaeson defeated James Kluskey 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 5 singles to win his eighth straight.
DOUBLES
#1 Skupski/Growcott (LSU) def. Tveit/Claesson (OM) 9-8(5)
#2 Bryan/Gaston (LSU) def. ten Berge/Di Cesare (OM) 8-3
#3 Poole/Klaeson (OM) def. Cluskey/White (LSU) 8-5
SINGLES
#1 Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Erling Tveit (OM) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
#2 Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Eric Claesson (OM) 7-5, 6-4
#3 Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Bram ten Berge (OM) 6-2, 6-1
#4 Juan Pablo Di Cesare (OM) def. Mark Growcott (LSU) 6-2, 5-7, 7-5
#5 Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. James Kluskey (LSU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
#6 Robbye Poole (OM) def. Martel Campbell (LSU) 6-2, 7-6
