The No. 35 LSU men’s tennis team came away with a hard-fought victory Wednesday against No. 27 South Florida as No. 9 senior Michael Venus defeated No. 70 sophomore Lucas Jovita, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, to clinch the 4-3 win.The match came down to court No. 1 as night fell at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium where Venus and Jovita played a heated contest.The two faced each other last season in Baton Rouge, and Venus said he expected more of the same emotion from Jovita on Wednesday.”We got into a lot of arguments last year,” Venus said. “It was the same today. I just had to block it out even though it was hard.”The match was tied 3-3 after LSU senior James Cluskey and freshman Neal Skupski each lost their singles matches in three sets, and sophomore Sebastian Carlsson won a tight second-set tiebreaker to come out on top against Vanderbilt’s Thomas Estrada, 7-5, 7-6 (7).Venus said he did not panic when the outcome of the match was in his hands.”I was excited actually,” Venus said. “It doesn’t really make me nervous. I thought it was coming when I saw James and Neal fighting away.”South Florida is LSU’s highest ranked win of the season.On the women’s side, the No. 23 Lady Tigers (10-4) beat two non-conference opponents Wednesday.LSU defeated Tulsa, 5-2, in a four-hour match, and knocked off Grambling, 7-0.LSU junior Hannah Robinson clinched the Tulsa match with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Anastasia Erofeeva.LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis said he was especially happy with Robinson’s clinching victory, especially since Robinson has been worn down with back injuries this season.”She played a really solid match with the exception of a handful of games early in the second set, but she’s been struggling a little bit. This will be good for her confidence,” Minnis said.No. 15 senior Megan Falcon also won her singles match against Tulsa’s Alexandra Kichoutkin, 7-6 (3), 6-1. Falcon fell behind, 4-1, in the first set before forcing a tiebreaker, and she cruised in the second set.”I had a slow start finding my rhythm, and the girl from Tulsa was playing well and coming up with some big shots,” Falcon said. “I just tried to hang in there, and the second set went a little better.”Falcon is now tied with Jennifer Barr for 14th place on LSU’s all-time wins list with a record of 90-15.LSU senior Staten Spencer suffered a hip flexor injury in her match against Tulsa’s Ewa Szatkowska. Spencer won the first set, 6-2, before losing the second set, 6-0, and she retired down 3-0 in the third set.”This is not a bad time because she has a week to rest,” Minnis said.Against Grambling, the Lady Tigers won five out of their six singles matches by the score of 6-0, 6-0. LSU junior Sloane Mathis got her first dual match win of the season against Marqueita Maynard, 6-1, 6-0.—-Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]