Tennessee Opens Road Swing with 4-3 Win Over No. 24 LSU

Thursday, March 7

Baton Rouge, LA

6 PM

University of Tennessee

#24 LSU

Photo by: John Golliher/Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Opens Road Swing with 4-3 Win Over No. 24 LSU

March 07, 2019 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La. – The 25^th-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team picks up its first SEC win of the season in a thrilling, 4-3, victory over No. 24 LSU on the road Thursday night.

Tennessee (10-2, 1-1 SEC) and LSU split the first six points of the match and the deciding point came down to court one between No. 59 Timo Stodder and No. 112 Shane Monroe of LSU. Stodder won the opening set 6-2 but dropped the second 4-6, forcing the deciding third and final set.

With all the other singles courts finished, Monroe won the opening game but wouldn't win another as Stodder won six-straight games, taking the final set 6-1 and giving the Vols the match victory.

LSU (12-3, 1-2) began the night by winning the doubles point after the Vols and Tigers split on courts one and two. Stodder and doubles partner Preston Touliatos, ranked 36th nationally in doubles, defeated 43rd-ranked Rafael Wagner and Joey Thomas, 6-2. However, the Tigers' duo of Monroe and Daniel Moreno knocked off Martim Prata and Andrew Rogers, 6-4, and Boris Kozlov and Nick Watson toppled Luca Wiedenmann and Adam Walton, 6-2 to earn the matches first point.

Walton, ranked No. 93 nationally in singles, got the Vols on the board with a quick 6-0, 6-2 triumph over LSU's Wagner to even the match at one point apiece. Walton has now won nine consecutive singles matches. Wiedenmann put UT up, 2-1, as he defeated Watson 6-4, 6-2 on court six and extends his win streak to three-straight.

LSU fought back and evened the match at three all with a victory on court four as Kozlov knocked off Touliatos 6-1, 6-2. Tennessee and LSU split the remaining points with Scott Jones beating Malik Bhatnagar 6-3, 6-3 on the third court and Prata fell to Joey Thomas 6-4, 6-2 on court five.

That set the stage for the Big Orange victory with Stodder defeating Monroe 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 on center court and gave Tennessee a, 4-3, match victory.

"We're proud of Timo for being the guy to step up and clinch the victory tonight," assistant coach James McKie said. "The team as a whole is very close to realizing how good they can be, but it has to come from them. They have to believe it and I think they are close to seeing that for themselves."

UP NEXT: Tennessee will stay on the road as it travels to College Station, Texas for another top-30 matchup against No. 28 Texas A&M on Saturday. First serve is set for 1 p.m.