LSU men, women advance; SU men open play today

• Advocate news services
• Published: May 10, 2008 - Page: 10C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The LSU men’s and women’s tennis teams got off to winning starts in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday afternoon, while Southern’s men were scheduled to play their first-round match today.

LSU’s men handed Drake its first loss of the season with a 4-1 victory at the Atkins Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Illinois.

LSU (15-8) will face 15th-ranked Illinois (19-8) at 2 p.m. today in the second round. The Illini defeated Xavier, 4-0. The winner will advance to the NCAA championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., May 16-20.

Meanwhile, in Berkeley, Calif., the LSU women improved to 11-0 in matches when they clinch the doubles point in pulling away from Washington State 5-0 in the California Regional.

LSU will face host eighth-ranked Cal (17-5) at noon today in the second round for the right to advance to Tulsa, Okla., in the round of 16.

LSU men
In Champaign, Ill., the 18th-ranked Tigers gave Drake (24-1) its first loss of the season by claiming a 4-1 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Atkins Tennis Center.

The Tigers’ win over Drauke improves LSU’s all-time NCAA tournament record to 27-24 and marks the ninth time the Tigers have advanced to the second round in the 11 years coach Jeff Brown has been coach.

“Drake was a good test for us and they played with a lot of energy,” Brown said. “They are not used to losing so they played extremely hard. We gained the early momentum with the doubles point and gained early leads on most of the singles courts. I give them a lot of credit for their competitiveness.”

Illinois beat LSU 6-1 earlier this season at Illinois. The Illini reached the finals of the NCAA Championships last season.

“Facing a very good team like Illinois on its home court will be a tough match for us,” Brown said. “We have won some good road matches this season. We faced them earlier this season and I know both teams have improved. We will need a special effort from each of our guys tomorrow.”

LSU 4, Drake 1

Singles
1, No. 26 Michael Venus (LSU) vs, No. 70 Dalibor Pavic, 7-5, 5-6, unfinished.
2, Maor Zirkin (Drake) def, No. 106 Jan Zelezny, 6-1, 6-2.
3, Kevin Dessauer (LSU) vs, Mauricio Ballivian, 6-1, 5-5, unfinished.
4, Julien Gauthier (LSU) def, Ricardo Lau, 6-1, 6-2.
5, James Cluskey (LSU) def, Bokang Setshogo, 6-0, 6-4.
6, Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def, Ivan Mendoza,  6-1, 6-1.
Doubles
1, No. 16 James Cluskey/Michael Venus (LSU) def, Dalibor Pavic/Maor Zirkin, 8-3.
2, Kevin Dessauer/Colt Gaston (LSU) def, Ricardo Lau/Bokang Setshogo, 8-2.
3, Sebastian Carlsson/Jan Zelezny (LSU) vs, Mauricio Ballivian/Ivan Mendoza, 6-2, unfinished.

LSU women
In Berkeley, Calif., LSU (15-9) took control early as Hannah Robinson and Tiffany Tucker dominated their match on court 2 with an 8-2 victory over Washington State’s Marina Nicolas and Bianca Selaru.