After a dominating day one of the Jerry Simmons Invitational, the LSU men’s tennis teams fell short, losing to Penn State in the final match of the tournament.
Seven teams made the trip to Baton Rouge to join LSU — Nicholls State, Lamar University, University of New Orleans, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of South Florida, Georgia State and Penn State.
The Tigers began the tournament against Lamar University on Saturday morning.
Seniors Shane Monroe and Nikola Samardzic, junior Rafael Wagner and sophomore Joey Thomas gave the Tigers a 4-0 win against Lamar University to open up the weekend. The Tigers didn’t lose a set in their first match giving the Tigers confidence early.
Going into Saturday’s afternoon match, co-head coach Andy Brandi knew Georgia State wouldn’t fall so easily.
“It’s a team that is very good that we lost to last year and is a team that got to the NCAA’s last year, so they’re a very good team with good results in the past,” Brandi said.
The second match didn’t go as smoothly for the Tigers.
As expected, Georgia State proved to be a much tougher opponent. Monroe and Samardzic gave LSU the early advantage in gaining the doubles point, winning 6-1. Wagner and Thomas clinched the point after a back-and-forth battle ultimately winning 6-4.
Singles continued to prove challenging as Georgia State played very well. Freshman Boris Kozlov is the only player who won comfortably, 6-2, in each set. Sophomore Malik Bhatnagar won his match 7-5 and 6-5 giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead. Wagner finished his match with a 6-2 and 7-5 victory to give LSU a 4-0 sweep.
“There were some spots, especially in the second match, where things got tight, and we seemed to rise to the occasion and come through at difficult moments,” Brandi said.
After the final match on Saturday, LSU’s opponent was set — Penn State. After competing so well during the first day the Tigers looked to continue their 4-0 undefeated streak and win their home tournament.
Penn State came out competitive in doubles. Wagner and Thomas won definitively, 6-1, but they couldn’t do it alone. The duo of freshmen Nick Watson and Malik Bhatnagar were stifled, losing 2-6. The pair of Monroe and Samardzic weren’t far behind falling 2-6 as well.
Dropping the doubles point put the Tigers in a tough 1-0 hole early. Bhatnagar bounced back impactfully for the Tigers quickly winning 6-1 in both sets tieing the match 1-1. Penn State quickly broke the tie as Kozlov lost, 6-1 and 6-3, giving them the lead 2-1.
Thomas continued his success from doubles to his singles match winning both sets 6-4. This set the score at 2-2 for a brief moment. Samardzic fell soon after Thomas’s win in straight sets, 4-6 and 3-6 giving Penn State a 3-2 lead.
Every time LSU pressured, Penn State always had an answer. It seemed as though the Tigers had lost the momentum from their great day one of the tournament, and they were fighting to stay alive.
On court two Wagner was in a battle. He went down early losing the first set 4-6, but he showed grit coming back in the second set winning 6-4. At the same time, court one was heating up as Monroe won a long first set 7-5 and was in a 1-4 match himself.
The two matches were key for the Tigers as they were one point away from elimination.
The fans exploded with cheers for each point LSU scored as the tension grew in the LSU Tennis Complex. Ultimately Penn State proved to be too much. After a true duel Wagner lost 3-6 giving Penn State the overall tournament victory, 4-2.
The Tigers couldn’t seem to “rise to the occasion” like they did against Lamar or Georgia State.
“They just did not take care of business,” Brandi said. “They needed to show up with a bigger heart and more guts. Unfortunately, Penn State showed up like that, and we did not.”
After a tough day of singles and doubles things will not continue to be the same for LSU.
“As a result there will be some changes,” Brandi said. “There will be some changes in the doubles. There will be some changes in the singles lineup because we need people who are going to show up rain, snow or shine and compete out there whether they win or lose.”
The next step for LSU is Friday, Feb. 1 against an in-state Tulane team that defeated No. 18 Tennessee and No. 19 Florida State over the weekend.