March 2, 2008
AUBURN - The No. 35-ranked Auburn men's tennis team defeated No. 18 LSU, 4-3, for the third straight year Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center to open its SEC season 2-0 for the first time since 2002.
"It was just a great SEC match," head coach Eric Shore said. "There were momentum shifts everywhere, but in the end we won out against a very good LSU team."
Auburn won the doubles point for the eighth time this season and is 6-2 when winning the early point.
LSU started doubles well as James Cluskey and Michael Venus defeated No. 31 Tim Puetz and Lukas Marsoun on court two, 8-3. Auburn answered right back with an 8-3 win of its own courtesy of Alex Petropoulos and Milan Krnjetin, who defeated No. 70 Kevin Dessauer and Jan Zelezny in No. 3 doubles.
Auburn broke the 1-1 tie on center court as No. 43 Terence Nugent and Alexey Tsyrenov defeated Colt Gaston and Julien Gauthier, 8-5, to earn the 1-0 lead.
No. 81 Puetz once again was the first to leave the court in singles, but it took him a little longer than usual. Puetz defeated Zelezny, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, on court two to give Auburn a 2-0 lead.
LSU tightened the match as Pawel Dilaj lost to Sebastian Carlsson, 6-4, 7-5, but No. 59 Tsyrenov would soon defeat No. 70 Venus on court one to leave Auburn one point shy of the match-clinching fourth point.
LSU once again closed the gap to one as Dessauer defeated Petropoulos in No. 6 singles in a three-set match, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4, to move the score to 3-2.
Marsoun came up with the match-clinching fourth point for Auburn as he defeated Gauthier in a close three-set match 7-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Nugent could not pull out the come-from-behind victory on court four as he fell to Cluskey 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, giving Auburn the 4-3 victory.
SEC play continues as Auburn goes on the road to face No. 5 Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. At 2 p.m., Friday. The Tigers then continue to Starkville, Miss. to face Mississippi State in a 1 p.m., Sunday match.
Tennis Match Results
LSU vs Auburn
Mar 02, 2008 at Auburn, Ala.
#35 Auburn 4, #18 LSU 3
Singles competition
1. #59 Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) def. #70 Michael Venus (LSU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
2. #81 Tim Puetz (AU) def. Jan Zelezny (LSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
3. Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) 7-6, 5-7, 6-3
4. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Terence Nugent (AU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
5. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Pawel Dilaj (AU) 6-4, 7-5
6. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Alex Petropoulos (AU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #43 Terence Nugent/Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) def. Colt Gaston/Julien Gauthier (LSU) 8-5
2. James Cluskey/Michael Venus (LSU) def. #31 Tim Puetz/Lukas Marsoun (AU) 8-3
3. Alex Petropoulos/Milan Krnjetin (AU) def. #57 Kevin Dessauer/Jan Zelezny (LSU) 8-3
Match Notes:
LSU 4-3, 0-2 SEC; National ranking #18
Auburn 6-3, 2-0 SEC; National ranking #35
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,5,1,6,3,4)
Official: Bob Offer