BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 27 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team fell 4-3 to the LSU Tigers Sunday afternoon.
LSU took an early lead on its home courts, nabbing the doubles point with victories on courts one and two.
Vandy’s Baker Newman and Daniel Valent opened the match earning their third victory at No. 3 doubles (3-0). The tandem downed Rafael Wagner/Eric Samuelsson in a dominant 6-1 victory.
The Tiger’s Jordan Daigle and Justin Butsch delivered Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe their first loss at No. 1 doubles, 6-3. LSU secured the point advantage as Gabor Csonka and Julian Saborio came out on top of a 6-3 contest on court two.
In singles, the ‘Dores quickly leveled the overall score to 1-1 as Lachlan McPhee earned his first career Southeastern Conference win. The Brisbane, Australia native only allowed Louisiana’s Wagner four games in his 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles.
Valent suffered a 6-4, 6-3 loss to No. 47 Jordan Daigle on court one, which gave LSU the 2-1 advantage. Alex Ross came through for the black and gold to tie the match once more. The sophomore Commodore earned his first conference victory of the year in a close 6-4, 7-5 win against Samuelsson.
Nikola Smardzic claimed the advantage for the final time against VU, defeating Panu Virtanen. Virtanen powered through his first set tiebreaker, only allowing his opponent two points, 7-6(2). The Tiger, however, rallied to take the next two sets, 6-2, 6-3. LSU clinched the overall team win at No. 2 singles. Newman walked away victorious from a close first set, 6-4. No. 43 Justin Butsch earned key points in the second set to force a third set decider. The Tiger claimed the win, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Following the clinch, Rowe earned VU its third point in a third-set tiebreaker. On court four against Csonka, the freshman claimed the 20th victory of his debut season, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6).
The Commodores return home this week, hosting Mississippi State Thursday at 4 pm and Auburn and Illinois State on Saturday at 12 and 4 pm.
Results:
Singles
1 No. 47 Jordan Daigle (LSU) def. Daniel Valent (VU), 6-4, 6-3
- No. 43 Justin Butsch (LSU) def. Baker Newman (VU), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
- Lachlan McPhee (VU) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU), 6-2, 6-2
- Billy Rowe (VU) def. Gabor Csonka (LSU), 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6)
- Nikola Samardzic (LSU) def. Panu Virtanen (VU), 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3
- Alex Ross (VU) def. Eric Samuelsson (LSU), 6-4, 7-5
Doubles
- Jordan Daigle/Justin Butsch (LSU) def. Lachlan McPhee/Billy Rowe (VU), 6-3
- Gabor Csonka/Julian Saborio (LSU) def. Alex Ross/Pen Binet (VU), 6-3
- Baker Newman/Daniel Valent (VU) def. Rafael Wagner/Eric Samuelsson (LSU), 6-1
Order of Finish:
Singles: 3, 1, 6, 5, 2, 4
Doubles: 3, 1, 2
