Miami’s Comeback Falls Short Against LSU

ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team comeback fell just short Monday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex as the Hurricanes fell to the LSU Tigers, 4-3 in the consolation match of ITA Kickoff Weekend in Athens, Ga.

The Hurricanes (0-2) rallied from down 3-1 to tie the match at 3-all but could not complete the comeback.

The Tigers (1-1) jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a pair of victories in doubles action. Chen Dong and Welsh Hotard defeated Martin Katz and Antonio Prat , 6-3, on court two, while George Stoupe and Ronald Hohmann prevailed over Dan Martin and Leonard Bierbaum , 6-4 at third doubles.

Prat tied the match at 1-1 with Miami’s first singles victory of the day, besting Dong on court three, 6-2, 6-2.

The Tigers responded with two straight points thanks to victories at first and fifth singles. Martin fell on court one, 3-6, 2-6 and freshman Nacho Serra Sanchez faced a 3-6, 5-7 defeat on court six.

Down but not out, Bierbaum pulled the Hurricanes to within one with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over LSU’s Julien Penzlin at sixth singles.

Katz knotted the match at 3-all with a resilient 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Stefan Latinovic on court two.

On court four, fifth-year senior Franco Aubone won the first set, 6-4, before falling in set two, 5-7. With the match on the line, the Argentina native battled back from down 2-5 in set three, rattling off nine straight points to tie the match at 5-5. Unfortunately, Aubone’s comeback ran out of steam and he dropped the third set, 5-7, to finish the match in favor of LSU.

The Hurricanes return to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on Friday, Feb. 10 to take on North Florida at 3 p.m.