The LSU men’s tennis team notched its first Southeastern Conference victory of the season Sunday with a 6-1 victory against No. 48 Vanderbilt.
The No. 17 Tigers, coming off a 5-1 home loss to No. 9 Kentucky on Friday, improved their record this season to 7-3 and evened their SEC record at 1-1.
“We knew Vanderbilt was a real feisty team,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “You could see that from the beginning.”
The Tigers outlasted the Commodores to earn the doubles point and a 1-0 lead, which Brown said was key to the victory.
LSU’s No. 39-ranked doubles duo of senior Neal Skupski and sophomore James Turbervill clinched the doubles point for the Tigers in their debut on court one this season.
Skupski and Turbervill defeated Vanderbilt’s Gonzalez Austin and Blake Bazarnik, 9-8.
The Tigers’ No. 38-ranked pair of junior Olivier Borsos and freshman Chris Simpson also made its season debut on court two with an 8-4 drubbing of Charlie Jones and Anton Kovrigin.
“With [Skupski] and Turbervill being at the level they’re at, it allows us some flexibility, so we’ll be able to move people around,” Brown said.
The Tigers jumped out to an even bigger lead early in singles play when Simpson quickly finished off Bazarnik, 6-3, 6-3, and Turbervill defeated Michael Retta, 6-1, 7-6.
Vanderbilt secured its only point when Austin topped Skupski, 6-2, 7-6, but junior Stefan Szacinski sealed the victory for the Tigers soon after with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Kovrigin.
“It was a great feeling clinching a match,” Szacinski said. “I think it was my first time clinching, and I’m a junior.”
Szacinski had struggled so far this season with a 2-5 record coming into Sunday’s matchup.
“He’s bounced back from a bad leg in the fall, and he’s kind of just gotten himself going,” Brown said.
Senior Tom Knights and No. 66 Borsos also picked up victories for the Tigers on Sunday.
“Credit to all the guys on the team, even Neal who lost his match, [he] went down fighting,” Szacinski said.
LSU will now prepare for its first SEC road trip of the season. The Tigers will challenge No. 46 Alabama on Friday and No. 12 Auburn on Sunday.
 
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