GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2017) – On day one of the ITA Kick-off, the Bulls were handed a narrow 4-3 loss against LSU, on Saturday.
Going into singles play, the Bulls were slightly ahead of LSU, 1-0. However, the Tigers would prove to be a formidable opponent. Despite USF taking four singles matches to a third set, LSU would post enough wins to push past the Bulls.
"Full credit to Coach Brown and the LSU tigers today," said Head Coach Ashley Fisher. "They outplayed us down the stretch and deserved the win. We have some work to do but today was a good preview for what to expect in the upcoming months. We will have to battle and work hard for our wins this season but I believe our team will continue to improve and win these sort of matches moving forward," said Coach Fisher.
Alberto Barroso-Campos in the No. 4 spot and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy in the No. 6 spot picked up the two singles wins for the day facing Gabor Csonka and Agie Moreno, respectively. Barroso-Campos dropped a close first set but came back and showed his strength with two quick sets winning 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. Kalyuzhnyy took an early lead (6-3) before dropping a close set 5-7. Ultimately Kalyuzhnyy finished the match in a quick 6-1 rout of Moreno.
Peter Bertran (6-7, 6-4, 6-3), and new Bull Pierre Luquet (4-6, 6-1, 6-3) also went to three sets, but ultimately fell to the Tigers. Sasha Gozun and Justin Roberts both dropped their matches in straight sets.
Senior duo Gozun and Kalyuzhnyy clinched the doubles point on court one after a close 7-6 victory over Jordan Daigle and Justin Butsch. On court two, Bertran and Roberts notched a 6-2 win over Csonka and Julian Saborio to put USF in the lead. Wagner and Samuels answered for LSU with a 6-4 defeat over Barroso-Campos and Jakub Wojcik.
Up Next:
The Bulls are set to face UNCW Sunday at 11 a.m. in the consolation match. Next week USF will travel to Columbus, Ohio for their match against Ohio State Friday, Feb. 3.
Results:
Singles
No. 1 Jordan Daigle def. Sasha Gozun (6-3, 6-3)
No. 2 Justin Butsch def. Peter Bertran (6-7, 6-4, 6-3)
No. 3 Nikola Samardzic def. Justin Roberts (6-4, 7-6)
No. 4 Alberto Barroso – Campos def. Gabor Csonka (5-7, 6-3, 6-1)
No. 5 Rafael Wagner def. Pierre Luquet (4-6, 6-1, 6-3)
No. 6 Vadym Kalyuzhnyy def. Agie Moreno (6-3, 5-7, 6-1)
Doubles
No. 1 Gozun/Kalyuzhnyy def. Daigle/Butsch (7-6, 5)
No. 2 Bertran/Roberts def. Csonka/Saborio (6-2)
No. 3 Wagner/Samuelsson def. Barroso-Campos/Wojcik (6-4)
About USF men's tennis
Be sure to follow USF men's tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. Head coach Ashley Fisher will begin his first year at the helm of the program for the 2017 season after serving as an assistant coach in 2016. The USF men's tennis program has won three consecutive American Athletic Conference Championships and advanced to three straight NCAA tournaments.
– #GoBulls –
