University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
#31 LSU
Vols Lose SEC Tennis Opener at LSU
February 27, 2015 | Men's Tennis
BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Tennessee Volunteers lost their Southeastern Conference opener 4-0 to LSU on Friday night at "Dub" Robinson Stadium.
LSU (10-1, 1-0 SEC) won the doubles point and picked up the three singles courts it needed for the team victory. The remaining three matches were suspended.
Following the loss, the SEC road trip continues for the Vols (8-5, 0-1), who play their fourth of five consecutive road matches on Sunday when they take on Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.
The doubles point was key in the Vols' two 4-3 road victories earlier this week, but Tennessee dropped the doubles point for just the third time this season with losses on courts 2 and 3.
Tennessee's No. 3 team of Andrew Dromsky and Jack Schipanski lost for just the second time all season, falling to 9-2 this spring as Chris Simpson and Jordan Butsch earned a 6-4 victory to decide the doubles point.
In singles, LSU kept up the momentum by winning five of six first sets. The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Andrew Korinek beat Bartosz Sawicki 6-2, 6-0 on court 6 and Chris Simpson avenged a loss last season with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Hunter Reese on court 2.
Tennessee needed to win the remaining four matches, but LSU picked up the last team point it needed when Tam Trinh defeated Schipanski 7-5, 6-2 on court 3, snapping the sophomore's five-match winning streak.
Senior Mikelis Libietis was the only Vol to win a set but his match remained unfinished. The 2013 SEC Player of the Year split sets at the top of the lineup to Jordan Daigle 6-4, 5-7 when the match was clinched.
Libietis and Reese also did not complete their doubles match, leading 5-4 when play was stopped. They are 19-1 in the last two years in SEC doubles play.
The Vols' last victory at LSU came in 2011, a 4-3 match midway through conference play.
LSU 4, Tennessee 0
Singles
1. #15 Mikelis Libietis, UT, vs. #64 Jordan Daigle, LSU, 6-4, 5-7 dnf.
2. #98 Chris Simpson, LSU, def. Hunter Reese, UT, 6-1, 6-2
3. #125 Tam Trinh, LSU, def. Jack Schipanski, UT, 7-5, 6-2
4. Luis Valero, UT, vs. Boras Arias, LSU, 6-7, 4-4 dnf.
5. Jess Jones, UT, vs. #119 Justin Butsch, LSU, 3-6, 3-5 dnf.
6. Andrew Korinek, LSU, def. Bartosz Sawicki, UT, 6-2, 6-0
Doubles
1. #3 Libietis/Reese, UT, vs. #57 Arias/Daigle, LSU, 5-4 dnf.
2. Trinh/Perez, LSU, def. Sawicki/Valero, UT, 6-2
3. Simpson/Butsch, LSU, def. Dromsky/Schipanski, UT, 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (6,2,3).
