LSU men’s tennis fell to Texas A&M in a 1-4 overall match score in College Station yesterday to open SEC play.
Despite their recent success and win streak, the Tigers were no match for the Aggies and have dropped to 8-2 on the season thus far.
Doubles play started first, with the Tigers and the Aggies battling for the first point of the meet. Top pair Stefan Latinovic and Nick Watson drew first blood, winning the first match of the day 6-3.
Chen Dong and Welsh Hotard followed, but the duo from Texas A&M fought back and pulled out a win 4-6, leveling the doubles score going into the last doubles match. It was Ronnie Hohmann and George Stoupe who became short lived heroes, however, taking the final match 7-5 and clinching the doubles point for the Tigers.
It was only downhill from there though, as the Tigers would fail to win any singles matches on the day. Hotard took the first of many losses, falling in straight sets 1-6, 2-6 to level the overall match score to 1-1. Julien Penzlin followed, losing his match to No. 105 ranked Pierce Rollins in straight sets as well, 2-6, 4-6.
No. 30 Ronnie Hohmann fought hard in his loss to No. 63 Noah Schachter, losing 3-6, 5-7. Latinovic faced No. 57 ranked Raphael Perot, taking the first set all the way to the end, unfortunately losing a close fight. The final score of their match was 6-7(6-8), 5-7.
With Latinovic’s loss, the score rose to 1-4 in favor of the Aggies, and the following two matches went unfinished. Dong and Stoupe took both of their matches to the third set, but neither match was completed.
The Tigers have a quick turnaround following the loss to the Aggies, and they will travel back to Baton Rouge to face the No. 19 Florida Gators on Saturday. With home court advantage along the bayou, the Tigers could have a shot at upsetting the Gators.
The Gators are coming off of a loss in their SEC opener as well, falling to No. 18 Mississippi State 2-5. Florida has had its fair share of ranked matchups, though, having already faced eight top-25 ranked teams this season, including impressive wins against No. 10 Baylor and No. 12 Florida State.
The Florida Gators are led by SEC Player of the Week William Grant, who is the highest ranked player on the team, ranking in at No. 73 in singles and No. 31 in doubles.
The Tigers will have more than a handful on their return to Baton Rouge on Saturday, March 4.
