The No. 37 LSU men’s tennis team had aspirations to reach a feat that hadn’t been met in nearly 14 months — a win against a top-25 opponent.No. 17 Texas A&M had other intentions. The Tigers’ upset bid fell short Sunday afternoon as the Aggies held off a late rally to stymie the Tigers, 5-2, at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium. LSU found itself in a hole once again in singles as Texas A&M’s Marus Lunt cruised by freshman James Turbervill, 6-1, 6-4, and Alexis Klegou rallied back from a 4-2 first set deficit en route to a straight-set, 6-4, 6-2 victory against junior Julien Gauthier to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead.”We could have captured the momentum [with break points], but we didn’t,” said LSU men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown.   The Tigers stormed back with singles victories from freshman Stefan Szacinski and sophomore Mark Bowtell to close the gap to 3-2. But Texas A&M’s Jeff Dadamo, the No. 23 singles player in the country, answered with a 7-6, 6-2, victory against junior Sebastian Carlsson to clinch the match. Carlsson had numerous break point chances in the first-set tiebreak, but couldn’t convert on any for the Tigers.LSU also missed a golden opportunity in doubles to earn the first point when Klegou and Lunt edged Gauthier and Turbervill, 9-7. “[Losing the doubles point] is a huge difference in what you have to do in singles,” Brown said. “Getting three singles wins against a good team is a much different process than getting four.”The Tigers, who are in the midst of a six-match homestand, open up Southeastern Conference play Friday against South Carolina.Meanwhile, the LSU women’s tennis team dropped its sixth consecutive match Saturday afternoon to Rice, 4-3.Rice (7-3) swept LSU in doubles with scores of 8-0, 8-6 and 8-4 to clinch the doubles point. The doubles loss was the fifth consecutive match in which the Lady Tigers (2-6) have lost the doubles point. The last point LSU won came more than a month ago in a 7-0 win against Prairie View A&M.  LSU coach Tony Minnis made no hesitation to describe his feelings after the “disappointing” match. “We need to switch our doubles up because we’re just not winning,” he said. Minnis said he wants to keep the tandem of sophomore Whitney Wolf and freshman Keri Frankenberger, who have posted a 11-6 record on the year, but admitted he may have to switch things up to generate success. “We’ve tried all different combinations … We’re trying to keep them together,” he said. “But we might have to spread them apart — we’ll have to see what our options are.” The Lady Owls raced out to a 3-0 lead in singles and subsequently clinched the match when Danny Trigo knocked off freshman Ebie Wilson in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Despite the match being already decided, three Lady Tigers at the top of the singles lineup had other plans. Freshman Kaitlin Burns continued her torrid winning streak, winning her seventh-consecutive match with a 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7), decision against Julie Chao. The highlight for the Lady Tigers came when Wolf ended a personal six-match losing streak as she upset No. 63 Rebekka Hanle, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Wolf, who entered the season ranked No. 120 in the country, used a powerful mix of serves and forehand winners to capture her first win of the spring dual season. “She’s been close all year,” Minnis said of Wolf. “She played a little more within herself — she played smarter.” Senior Nicole Kantor also notched an upset victory against No. 100 Jessica Jackson, 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7), to improve to 13-9 on the season. LSU opens SEC play March 5 at South Carolina. 
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