After sweeping doubles matches against Vanderbilt on Friday, the LSU men’s tennis team held off the Commodores’ comeback efforts and clinched their first Southeastern Conference win of the season, 4-3. Vanderbilt took the lead after winning the first two singles matches. Vanderbilt’s Alex Zotov defeated LSU sophomore Julien Gauthier 6-2, 6-2, and Vijay Paul beat LSU freshman Neal Skupski 6-2, 6-4. No. 9 Michael Venus came back to win his singles match against Vanderbilt’s Bryant Salcedo after losing the first set in a tiebreaker. Venus tied the match at 3-all with his 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 win. LSU freshman Mark Bowtell sealed the win for the Tigers, winning in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4, against Vanderbilt’s James Moye. LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown said he was happy with the Tigers’ ability to fight back against the Commodores after giving up leads twice. “It was a great performance for Michael coming off an injury to bounce back after losing the first set,” Brown said in a news release. “For Bowtell to clinch the last match is definitely a confidence boost, and the team was happy to get the win after a tough opening SEC weekend.” LSU returns to action Sunday at Kentucky at 11 a.m. —- Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]