Rice University
LSU
Tight Matches Tell The Tale
1/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 22, 2012
The 33rd ranked LSU Tigers leveraged wins in three of four tie-break sets to turn back #39 Rice, 5-2 at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the Rice campus on Sunday afternoon. The match was the first dual of the year for LSU, while the Owls fell to 2-2 on the season.
"The score doesn't show how close the match was, but in the end we were just out-scrapped by LSU," Rice head coach Ron Smarr said. "Our two teams are pretty evenly matched in terms of talent, but the difference was how we played in those sets. Hopefully we will learn from some of the things that happened today and be ready to bounce back next week against Florida State."
The two teams gave a quick indication of how the match would go during doubles. After LSU won at #2, the Owls #1 tandem of Harry Fowler and Justin To were locked in a see-saw battle with LSU's 28th ranked duo of Olivier Borsos and Chris Simpson. The teams held serve through the first 10 games before the Tigers broke through with a pair of service breaks to take the match, 8-5 and give LSU the first point of the afternoon.
The Tigers quickly extended their lead to 3-0 with straight-set wins at #1 & #2 singles, but three of the other four singles matches saw their opening sets extended to tie breakers.
Michael Nuesslein, playing at #6 while for the second time this weekend, raced to a 7-3 win in the extra game and then took the second set, 6-2 to put the Owls on the scoreboard. The Tigers grabbed the tie-breaks at #3 & #5, setting the stage for the clinching points of the match which came after wins in the second sets.
Junior Jonathan Chang began his match at #4 singles quickly, winning the opening set by a 6-0 margin. But he was extended to three sets by LSU's Stefan Szacinski, who posted the Tigers' third tie-break win in the second set of their match. Chang out-lasted Szacinski 6-3 in the final set to cap an unbeaten weekend.
Nuesslein and Chang provided both of the Owls points in each of their two matches this weekend against Texas and LSU. "Jonathan has competed hard and started fast in both matches," Smarr said. "It's been encouraging to see how Michael has played after missing so much time because of his injury. We're still working through our lineup," Smarr noted. "We need to look at some options this week before we play Florida State next weekend."
Rice will face the #44th ranked Seminoles in the first round of the ITA National Indoor Championships which will be held at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco.
Players Mentioned
