LSU defeated Alabama State 4-0 in the first round of the Baton Rouge Regional at the LSU Tennis Complex on May 1. The victory advances No. 7-seeded LSU to the NCAA Regional Final, where they will face Pepperdine.
The match saw Andrej Loncarevic secure his seventh clinch of the season by winning in straight sets over Martin Catrice, helping LSU improve its record to 26-6. Alabama State concluded its season with a 10-10 record.
Head coach Danny Bryan said, “Congratulations to Alabama State on a great year. I was really impressed with their team and how they competed – the coaching staff did a great job. They won the SWAC on the women’s side as well, so well done to them. I felt that we were a little sloppy for sure in some spots today. Maybe it was because of the excitement of playing in front of so many people, the guys wanted to play well. Moving forward, it was probably what we needed to get going again. This season, when we’ve had a match like that, I feel like the guys have really responded well, and I expect no different from them. Pepperdine is a really good team. We were able to get a good win against them earlier in the year, but it came down to a few points. We are excited about the challenge and for another great crowd. I want to thank everyone for coming out today, and we’re going to need their help tomorrow.”
In doubles competition, Erik Arutiunian and Matias Ponce de Leon won decisively at court two with a score of 6-1 against Matteo Lataste and Martin Catrice; Olaf Pieczkowski and Enzo Kohlmann also posted a strong performance at court three with another 6-1 win over Flor De Sitter and Milan Ristov.
Singles victories included Alessio Vasquez defeating Loris Gueli (6-0, 6-3), Arutiunian overcoming De Sitter (7-5, 6-1), and Loncarevic securing his match against Catrice (6-1, 6-4). Other matches remained unfinished as LSU reached four points first.
Following this result, LSU will play Pepperdine next in hopes of advancing further into postseason play.
