Tide Men's Tennis Falls to LSU in SEC Tournament
4/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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NASHVILLE - The Alabama men’s tennis squad couldn’t match up with the 13th-ranked LSU Tigers (17-5, 7-4 SEC), losing 4-0 in the first round of Southeastern Conference play at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center on Thursday.
“I have to give a lot of credit to LSU,” Alabama head coach Billy Pate said. “They are a very talented team and took command early in the match in doubles play and we couldn’t regain any momentum early in singles play.
“We are a much better team than we showed today and we hope to make an NCAA regional and have a chance to practice and show it, but that’s out of our control right now. We have to sit and wait.”
The Crimson Tide (10-14, 2-9 SEC), ranked 43rd in the nation, must now wait until May 5 to see if they will make the 64-team NCAA Tournament field. Alabama has made the tournament in each of the past three season, including a trip to the round of 16 a year ago.
Alabama dropped 8-3 matches at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles in the opening of the match on the indoor courts. Jason Hazley clinched the match for LSU with a second set tiebreaker victory over Chris Gostek at No. 2 singles. Gostek served up 5-4 in the match before losing the next three points.
At No. 5 singles, RJ Murray had an opportunity to force a third set as well, serving up 6-5 against LSU’s Sebastian Rutka. Murray eventually lost the match in a second-set tiebreaker, putting the Bengal Tigers on the hill.
Match #1 –#5 LSU vs. #12 Alabama
Thursday, April 22, 2004, 8 a.m.
Doubles
1. Fisher/Hazley (LSU) def. Mitchell/Gostek (UA), 8-3
2. Ross/Rutka (LSU) led Jung/Murray (UA), 6-3 suspended
3. Skupski/Richman (LSU) def. Molnar/Green (UA), 8-3
Order of finish: 3,1,*
Singles
1. Ken Skupski (LSU) led Stephen Mitchell (UA), 6-4, 4-6, 2-0 susp.
2. Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Chris Gostek (UA), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
3. Bryan Fisher (LSU) def. Joseph Jung (UA), 6-4, 6-3
4. Peter Richman (LSU) vs. Eric Molnar (UA), 4-6, 7-5 susp.
5. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. R.J. Murray (UA), 6-0, 7-6 (2)
6. Cory Ross (LSU) led Christian Brodersen (UA), 3-2 susp.
Order of finish: 3, 5, 2*
