LSU's Venus in ITA final

• Advocate news services
• Published: Oct 12, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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TULSA, Okla. — Senior Michael Venus of the LSU men’s tennis team moved through two ranked opponents on Saturday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center to become the first LSU player to enter the ITA All-American finals.

“I’m not surprised by his success since he has such a strong work ethic and intensity in his practice and in conditioning,” LSU coach Jeff Brown said. “He is playing with confidence because he knows he is as prepared as he can be.”

In his first match of the day, No. 20 Venus took on Arkansas’ Blake Strode, who is No. 41 in the ITA preseason rankings. Venus got off to a slow start as Strode took the first set, 6-1, but Venus won the next two sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Following the victory over Strode, Venus squared off against Enrique Olivares of East Tennessee State in the semifinals. Venus edged out No. 31 Olivares in a heated first set by 7-6 (3) mark.

The 6-3 senior overpowered Olivares in the second set, posting a 6-1 mark to catapult him into the finals.

Venus will face the No. 1 player, Oklahoma State’s Oleksandr Nedovyesov, at 10 a.m. today.