Four of five players on the men’s tennis team lost in competition this weekend at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championship in Tulsa, Okla. Senior Jan Zelezny was a bright spot for the Tigers on Sunday as he beat sophomore Darren Walsh of Southern Methodist in his first match. He then took down Denver junior Benny Althaus, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the qualifying draw Monday. “Jan [Zelezny] played with a lot of intensity today,” LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown said in a news release. “He was very sharp and focused. He served as well as I have seen during his time here.” Zelezney was scheduled to play Saturday but his second-round opponent was moved into the qualifying bracket, giving Zelezney a bye. LSU junior Martel Campbell advanced in the tournament with a win against junior Andy Gerst of Cal Poly, but fell to freshman Brad Cox of Kentucky in the second-round 6-4, 6-2. LSU junior Jon Tragardh lost his first match of the season against Nevada sophomore Laurent Garcin, 7-5, 6-2. The women’s team – participating in the UNLV Invitational – also had its troubles as it lost all three doubles matches and all but one singles match Saturday. LSU junior Staten Spencer earned the only victory of the day, winning 6-3, 6-2 against junior Leslie Vial of Northern Arizona. “I was really happy for Staten [Spencer],” LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis said in a news release. “She played really well. Mykala [Hedberg] and Tiffany Tucker lost a couple close singles matches [on Saturday], so we’ll have to come out and play better and just try to compete better than we did today.” The women, led by sophomore Ashley Murdock, rebounded Sunday to post a 3-3 record on the final day of competition. Murdock, a native of Memphis, Tenn., captured her first singles title of the season with a 6-0, 6-0 win against junior Palj Porter of Northern Arizona. “I was pleased with the way we bounced back,” Minnis said. “We played solidly. Mykala [Hedberg], Ashley [Murdock] and Kylie [Adamek] really stepped it up and played good ball today.” LSU junior Megan Falcon, ranked No. 1 in the nation in singles, and her doubles partner sophomore Hannah Robinson did not travel with the team to Las Vegas. They are preparing for next week’s ITA All-American Championships.
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