The LSU men’s tennis team will face off against No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 11 Mississippi State this weekend in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers will be looking to avenge a loss to the Bulldogs after they swept LSU 7-0 during the ITA Kick-Off Classic tournament Jan. 26.
“It was tough in the first match because we were on the road at the start of the season,” said sophomore tennis player Chris Simpson. “We’ll be out for a bit of revenge because of how easily they beat us.”
LSU secured its first Southeastern Conference victory of the season last weekend when it upset then-No. 11 Texas A&M.
Ole Miss has two players ranked in the top-15 of the national singles rankings, while the Bulldogs have standout freshman Romain Bogaerts.
“As long as we’re taking care of ourselves and we’re dialed in, we can play with anyone,” said LSU tennis coach Jeff Brown.
Ole Miss is coming off two straight SEC losses, but was riding an eight-match winning streak before last weekend.
“Ole Miss is a very good team and they’re having a good year,” Brown said. “So we’re going to have to match that intensity and come ready to play.”
While the Tigers toil in Baton Rouge, the LSU women’s team will be traveling to Mississippi to take on Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
Like the men, the Lady Tigers are coming off a weekend in which they battled to earn their first SEC win of the season, against Missouri.
The Lady Tigers suffered a few close losses before breaking through for the win against Missouri. The Tigers’ games against Kentucky and Auburn proved to be frustrating endeavors for LSU. Against Auburn, LSU had first set leads on all courts before ultimately falling to defeat, while in the Kentucky match, the Tigers gave up a 3-1 lead to lose 3-4.
“We just blew it [against Kentucky]. We did things at two spots that were really just unacceptable in my mind to lose that match,” said LSU coach Julia Sell after the Missouri match.
This weekend will be the first time LSU doesn’t face a top-25 ranked opponent since the weekend of March 1, but Sell is wary of the challenge the SEC opponents pose.
Senior Keri Frankenberger suffers from constant back pain, something the bus trip to Mississippi may not help.
“[Frankenberger] gets treatment for her back pretty much everyday,” Sell said. “On Mondays the trainers will do a needle therapy that’s like acupuncture, and then she receives massages, ultrasound therapy and stem treatment almost every day.”
Sell said the Tigers left early Thursday morning so they could get to Mississippi and start stretching out in preparation for the match.
With the first SEC win under their belt, the Lady Tigers are looking to carry over the momentum to go over .500 for the season.
“We had a lot of things going well for us on Sunday [against Missouri],” Sell said. “Hopefully we can carry that momentum into this weekend.”
