Eight LSU Tigers competed in the Rice Fall Invitational in Houston, Texas over the weekend.
Sophomore Stefan Szacinski advanced to the A bracket final before falling in straight sets to University of Texas’ Daniel Whitehead.
LSU coach Jeff Brown credited Szacinski’s training to his second round victory over Texas’ Sudanwa Sitaram.
“That was a high caliber win for Stefan,” Brown said. “His great conditioning paid off in the end of the second and third sets.”
The loss marked the second time in as many years Szacinski has reached the finals of the tournament.
Junior Mark Bowtell lost his first match to eventual champion Whitehead, but rallied, winning his final two matches and the consolation bracket in three sets over University of Texas-Arlington’s Lucas Leppin.
In the B bracket, Tiger senior Julien Gauthier and junior Tom Knights struggled, combining to win just one of five matches.
Sophomore James Turbervill won the consolation bracket in bracket C, and fellow sophomore Olivier Borsos won two of his three matches to continue a strong start to his fall season.
In the D bracket, Senior Cody Loup posted a 2-1 record as did sophomore Roger Anderson.
Overall, LSU combined to go 12-10 on the weekend in singles matches.
The Tigers’ doubles teams struggled over the weekend posting a 4-7 record.
Anderson and Bowtell managed to win two of their three matches in the A bracket. The duo of Szacinski and Knights finished the weekend 0-2.
In the B doubles bracket, Loup and Borsos lost their first two matches, but the team rebounded and claimed a victory Sunday morning.
Gauthier and Turbervill got out of the gates with a 8-6 victory but fell in their final two matches.
Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Qualifying begins Monday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.. Competition continues through Sunday Oct. 10.