The LSU men’s doubles team of junior Chris Simpson and sophomore Boris Arias lost to Ole Miss in the doubles championship match of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Southern Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Monday.
The Ole Miss doubles team of William Kallberg and Stefan Lindmark broke ahead early in the championship match and never looked back. The Rebels lead was cut to 4-3 after the Tigers’ duo broke Kallberg’s serve, but the Tiger’s pair could not get even with their opponents. Kallberg and Lindmark pulled away to a 7-4 lead and defeated Simpson and Arias 8-5.
The No. 3 seeded duo of Simpson and Arias, received a bye in the first round before defeating Lucas Dirube and Rafael Rondino of UAB, 8-5, in the second round. Simpson and Arias cruised past their quarterfinal opponents Carl Alberton and William Huyton of ULL, 8-0, to advance to the tournament semifinals.
The Tigers’ winning streak continued as Simpson and Arias ousted Auburn’s Joseph Van Dooren and Dan Cochrane in an 8-6 thriller, setting the finale between LSU and Ole Miss.
“We really never got anything going today,” assistant coach Danny Bryan said in a press release. “Ole Miss did a good job of keeping us off balance.”
Simpson was also the singles leader for LSU, carrying the Tigers into the quarterfinal match, where he fell to Ole Miss’ William Kallberg 6-3, 6-5. Simpson, who entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, continued to build an impressive junior campaign.
Sophomore transfer Andrew Korinek lasted until the fourth round of the singles main draw. Korinek dominated Blake Gregor of UNO 6-0, 6-0, but his luck turned against Auburn’s Lukas Ollert, losing 6-2, 6-4.
The second and third rounds proved toughest for the Tigers. In the second round, doubles team Korinek and sophomore Tam Trinh lost 8-3 to Auburn’s Hayes Brewer and Andrew Goodwin. Sophomore Justin Butsch and sophomore Harrison Kennedy also suffered a second round defeat, losing 8-5 defeat to Ole Miss’ Zach Wilder and Johan Backstrom.
Both Arias and Trinh beat their first and second round singles opponents before losing in the third round. Auburn’s Dennis Lengsfeld dominated Arias 6-0, 6-2 while Trinh’s final contest was a bit closer before falling 6-4, 6-3 to Tulane’s Dominik Koepfer.
The LSU men’s tennis team takes a 10 day break before travelling to Pensacola, Fla., for the Pensacola Pro Futures Qualifying tournament.