The LSU men’s tennis team completed a dominant performance in three dual matches Saturday, shutting out Jackson State twice and Alcorn State once, 7-0, 7-0, 7-0, at ‘Dub’ Robinson Stadium.
LSU (7-1) won all seven completed doubles matches and dropped only one set in 18 singles matches. LSU won seven sets without dropping a game between both matches against Jackson State, including freshman Simon Freund’s 6-0, 6-0 victory against Hernan Geria in the second match against Jackson State.
Freund and sophomore Justin Butsch each won a set without dropping a game against Alcorn State in the final match of the day.
“The focus was great,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “The concentration was great. Guys have something to prove as far how well they can keep that focus throughout the course of a match. You don’t always have the opportunity to dominate an opponent, and in a few spots today we were able to do that … A lot of guys picked up wins. We certainly didn’t lose any confidence today, and a lot of people gained quite a bit from it.”
After LSU took the doubles point in the first match of the day, Butsch (6-1, 6-2), junior Harrison Kennedy (6-2, 6-1) and junior Tam Trinh (6-0, 6-1) secured the first match victory with singles wins.
In the second match of the day, LSU again won the doubles point and captured the match win with singles victories by Freund (6-0, 6-0), Butsch (6-2, 6-1) and senior Chris Simpson (6-0, 6-2).
After it won the doubles point for the third time on the day, LSU grabbed its seventh win of the season when Freund (6-1, 6-0), Butsch (6-2, 6-0) and sophomore Eric Perez (6-1, 6-2) achieved singles victories.
The lone set loss was in sophomore Jordan Daigle’s singles match against Alcorn State’s Ernesto Santillan in the final match of the day. After Daigle won the first set, 6-2, Santillan battled and tied it in a 7-5 second-set victory. Daigle ultimately won the match on the third set, which was determined by the first to 10 points, 10-3.
The triple-header allowed some variations in LSU’s doubles and singles rotations, including a doubles pairing between Freund and Perez in the second match against Jackson State. Normally, Perez and Trinh form LSU’s No. 1 doubles tandem.
Although Freund and Perez did not complete their match against Styllanon Gkontsaris and Miguel Gomez Martin because the doubles point was secured, Freund said he enjoys playing with Perez.
“I played with Eric before in a couple matches, and he is a great player,” Freund said. “[He’s] a really good doubles player. He’s a perfect partner. He’s really supportive even if you make some bad errors. I wasn’t playing the best match of my life. I was actually struggling pretty hard in that doubles match, but Eric was really doing his best to help me get back on my feet.”
Sophomore John Michael Busch also gained more experience with his partner, Kennedy, in a 6-3 doubles win against Jackson State’s Geria and Federico Mendletta in the second match of the day.
You can reach James Bewers on Twitter @JamesBewers_TDR.