Tiger Rag News Services
Erik Arutiunian of the No. 21 LSU men’s tennis team was awarded SEC Freshman of the Week, the league office announced on Wednesday.
Arutiunian continued his red-hot start to his collegiate career, winning three matches over then No. 16 Arizona (4-2) and No. 22 Pepperdine (2-1), to help propel the Tigers into the ITA National Indoor Championships.
LSU (5-0) opened ITA Kickoff Weekend against the hosts, No. 16 Arizona. Erik Arutiunian and senior partner Matias Ponce de Leon entered the No. 2 court against Zoran Ludoski and Alexander Rozin. The duo was firing, quickly taking a 3-0 lead. The deficit proved too much to overcome for Arizona, unable to slow down the Tigers’ service games. Posting a 6-3 set win, Arutiunian set the tone for the Tigers against the heavily favored Wildcats in his first ITA Kickoff Weekend, continuing his undefeated doubles streak to begin the season.
In his court two debut, Arutiunian matched up against his first ranked singles opponent of the season. No. 58, Filip Gustafsson, logged the opening set, just one more away from ending the Tigers’ hopes for the Indoor Championships. With his back against the wall, Arutiunian turned the tables. Harnessing the same momentum he found in doubles, he cruised to a 6-1 victory to force a winner-take-all third set. The decider reached a 4–4 stalemate with the Wildcats poised to clinch. On deuce point, the Belarus native landed a drop volley winner. Arutiunian recorded a 6-4 final set scoreline as he served out the match. He improved his four-match win streak and kept the Tigers alive in the ITA National Indoor Team Championships. Arutiunian also logged his first ranked singles win of his collegiate career.
Continuing as the underdogs facing No. 22 Pepperdine, Erik Arutiunian and Matias Ponce de Leon took on No. 53 Lasse Poertner and Aleksa Pisaric at the second spot. Exchanging games against their first ranked opponents of the season, they arrived at a 5-5 stalemate. Arutiunian took charge, closing out the final two games for a 7-5 set win to clinch the doubles point for LSU. The Tigers have started 1-0 in every match this season, thanks to this pair, who are an undefeated 5-0 so far, each win coming on the No. 2 court. Furthermore, Arutiunian registered his first ranked doubles win of his collegiate career.
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