The LSU men’s tennis team recorded two victories at home on March 8, defeating Tennessee 4-0 and Southern Miss 6-1 at the LSU Tennis Complex. Andrej Loncarevic clinched the win against Tennessee with a straight sets victory over Dragos Cazacu, marking LSU’s first win over the Volunteers in ten years. Later in the day, Alessio Vasquez secured the match against Southern Miss by overcoming Jose Murariu.
These results improve LSU’s season record to 17-2 overall and 4-1 in Southeastern Conference play. Tennessee drops to 7-10 (0-6 SEC), while Southern Miss moves to an even 5-5. The Tigers’ performance comes after what head coach Danny Bryan described as an emotional win earlier in the week.
“I was proud of how the guys came out and competed today after an emotional win on Friday night,” Bryan said. “I was a little bit worried about them being tired or starting slow, but we did a pretty good job in doubles and were lights out in singles, playing great across the board. We did a good job closing the matches out, and I’m very proud of the effort.
A huge weekend with two very tough home matches against Oklahoma and Texas A&M is coming up. I hope we can create a great environment, and people can come out and support these guys who are playing hard and playing well. I really hope we can get a great crowd to cheer them on,” Bryan added.
In doubles play against Tennessee, Sasa Markovic and Loncarevic won their match on court one, while Matias Ponce de Leon and Erik Arutiunian clinched another point for LSU after winning a tiebreaker at court two. In singles competition, Olaf Pieczkowski extended his winning streak by defeating Jose Garcia, Ponce de Leon earned a straight sets victory over Shion Itsusaki, and Loncarevic sealed the sweep for LSU.
Against Southern Miss, new pairings saw success in doubles as Ponce de Leon teamed up with Enzo Kohlmann for a debut win on court two. Vasquez also returned from injury to claim his third consecutive singles victory. Other singles winners included Arutiunian, Kohlmann, Rudy Ceccon, and Calin Stirbu.
LSU will remain at home for upcoming matches against Oklahoma on March 13 and Texas A&M on March 15 before concluding next weekend’s play with New Orleans.
