No. 1 Virginia (15-0) came off a three-week layoff to extend its perfect record on Wednesday, defeating LSU 5-2.
LSU (4-7) returned to W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium for the first time since Feb. 8. But home court advantage didn’t help the Tigers against a Cavaliers team who boasted five ranked players.
“That’s a pretty stout group they’ve got there,” said LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown. “I think we knew what was going on when we came in. [We knew] we were going to have to play better than we have to this point.”
Virginia won all three doubles matches to go up 1-0, including a rare defeat of the No. 17 duo of senior Sebastian Carlsson and junior Neal Skupski. Carlsson and Skupski had previously won eight of nine doubles matches this spring.
Carlsson said he thought the Tigers didn’t play as well as they could have, and had trouble in particular with the Cavaliers’ serving.
“I think they were very good,” Carlsson said. “They were serving very well. It was tough to get any of their serves down, at all.”
Carlsson and senior Julien Gauthier recorded the Tigers only wins of the day in singles play. Carlsson defeated No. 30 Jarmere Jenkins in three sets 1-6, 6-5, 1-0, while Gauthier defeated No. 85 Julen Uriguen 6-4, 6-4.
The two points by LSU were the most scored on Virginia this season. The Cavaliers had either swept or given up only one point in their previous 14 matches.
“It was a tough start but then I got things going in the second set,” Carlsson said. “I got some good rallies and felt pretty good. It was probably my best match so far of the year.”
Gauthier extended his win streak to three matches with his victory.
“He’s getting better and that’s good to see,” Brown said. “Sometimes as a senior you can plateau, but for him and Sebastian those are great wins.”
LSU is now 0-2 against Virginia, with the other loss coming during a 7-0 blowout last year.
The competition doesn’t get any easier for LSU though as it hosts No. 22 Ole Miss at 3 p.m. on Friday at Robinson Stadium and Southeastern Conference Western Division rival Mississippi State on Sunday.
 
 
 
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