Mississippi State
LSU
Bulldogs Drop 4-0 Decision To #18 Tigers In First Round Of SEC Championship
April 17, 2008 | Men's Tennis
Fayetteville, Ark. - The Mississippi State men's tennis team fell 4-0 to 18th-ranked LSU Thursday morning in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Championship, held at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center on the University of Arkansas campus. With the loss, State fell to 8-12 overall this season.
The Bulldogs fell behind early, dropping two of the three doubles matches. The first completed match came on court #3 where LSU's team of Sebastian Carlsson and Jan Zelezny topped MSU's pair of Artem Kuznetsov and Antonio Lastre 8-1. The clinching point for LSU came on court #1 where 26th-ranked Tigers Michael Venus and James Cluskey defeated State's duo of Ryan Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs 8-5. Play on court #2 between MSU's Philippe Frayssinoux and Chris Doerr and LSU's Colt Gaston and Kevin Dessauer was suspended at 7-7.
LSU would quickly expand its lead to 2-0 when singles began as Gaston downed MSU's Farlow 6-2, 6-1 on court #4. The Tigers pushed their lead to 3-0 when Cluskey rallied from a first set deficit to top MSU's Kuznetsov 7-5, 6-0 on court #5. LSU would close out the Bulldogs with their fourth point coming from court #3 where Dessauer won 6-3, 6-4 over State sophomore Doerr.
Three matches would be suspended after LSU clinched the match. On court #1, MSU's 16th-ranked Ivan Bjelica led LSU's 39th-ranked Venus 5-2 in the second set after dropping the first 6-3. At the #2 spot, MSU's 48th-ranked Frayssinoux trailed LSU's 110th-ranked Zelezny 6-4, 4-0 while MSU's Lastre was down 6-0, 5-2 to LSU's Carlsson.
Thursday's loss marked the first time MSU had dropped a first-round match in the SEC Championship since 2003. State falls to 20-18 overall in the tournament since 1990 and is now 2-2 against LSU in the event.
#18 LSU 4, #54 Mississippi State 0
Fayetteville, Ark.-4/17/08
Doubles-#26 Michael Venus/James Cluskey (LSU) def. Ryan Farlow/Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) 8-5; Philippe Frayssinoux/Chris Doerr (MSU) vs. Colt Gaston/Kevin Dessauer (LSU) 7-7, susp.; Sebastian Carlsson/Jan Zelezny (LSU) def. Artem Kuznetsov/Antonio Lastre (MSU) 8-1.
Singles-#26 Bjelica (MSU) vs. #39 Venus (LSU) 3-6, 5-2, susp.; #48 Frayssinoux (MSU) vs. #110 Zelezny (LSU) 4-6, 0-4, susp.; Dessauer (LSU) def. Doerr (MSU) 6-3, 6-4; Gaston (LSU) def. Farlow (MSU) 6-2, 6-1; Cluskey (LSU) def. Kuznetsov (MSU) 7-5, 6-0; Lastre (MSU) vs. Carlsson (LSU) 0-6, 2-5, susp.
Players Mentioned
