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3/12/2006 The Commodores looked to rebound after Friday’s 7-0 loss to Arkansas, but came up two games short against LSU (4-3). After dropping the doubles point (3-0) the Commodores (5-7, 0-4) rallied in the singles round to come up with four first set wins against the Tigers at No.1, No. 2, No. 5, and No. 6. Despite the wins, the Tigers (8-6, 2-2) got on the board first in singles, when LSU’s Danny Bryan defeated Nathan Sachs (6-3, 6-2), putting the Tigers up 2- 0. Evan Dufaux broke his five match loosing streak when he decisively defeated LSU’s Colt Gaston (6-3, 6-2), improving his singles record to 6-6 and putting the ‘Dores on the board 2-1. “Evan has done the best job he’s done all year,” VU Head Coach Ian Duvenhage said. The Tigers retaliated when Mark Growcott downed Andy Mack at No. 3 (6-3, 6-3), marking the Tigers up 3-1. But the Commodores fired back with two wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 slots. Junior Jordan Magarik notched a straight set win at No. 6 against LSU’s Paul White (7-6, 6-3) to tie the match at 3 all. The clincher came down to No. 1 with VU’s Ryan Preston and LSU’s 38th ranked Ken Skupski. Skupski is the back-to-back title holder of the SEC Indoor Championship. After soundly defeating the Tiger in the first set, Preston was unable to hold on to his two game lead and fell in a tiebreaker (5) in the second set. Preston was the first to get on the board in the final set, but Skupski’s two game wins put the Tiger up 2-1. Preston returned the next game to tie the contest, but Skupski notched one more to stay ahead. Preston edged ahead 4-3, but was unable to pull out another win and fell 6-4 in the final set. “I’m really proud of the team,” Duvenhage said. “I’ve been talking to them about the fact that we can see light at the end of the tunnel. I know that we’re going to play some matches and going to make some major improvements, the only thing I don’t know is when it’s going to happen. We lost today, but it’s a huge step in the right direction. Even though it was a loss it wasn’t a downer, because it really boosted everyone’s confidence.” The Commodores will have the next week off and will return to SEC play on March 24 against Ole Miss in Nashville. 3/12/06 |
