After two months of tinkering with lineups and doubles pairs, the LSU men’s and women’s tennis teams are set to open conference play this weekend against Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

The strength of the Southeastern Conference on the court mirrors that on the gridiron, with four SEC teams ranked in the top 10 in both the men’s and women’s leagues.

“SEC [tennis] is just as good as it gets for both men and women,” said LSU women’s coach Julia Sell.

The Tigers (5-2) will go on the road for the second weekend in a row, facing No. 25 Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. Friday and defending SEC champs No. 6 Kentucky at 1 p.m. Sunday.

LSU coach Jeff Brown said temperatures in the 40s and a chance of snow will probably move the matches indoors, something he said will likely benefit the Tigers’ opponents.

The Tigers will also have to overcome a substantial amount of inexperience on the top two courts as sophomore Chris Simpson and freshman Tam Trinh each moved up a spot when struggling senior Olivier Borsos was moved to court three last weekend.

“We are hoping they can step up to the challenge,” Brown said. “In order to win some of these [SEC] matches, someone is going to have to do more than they have up to this point in the season.”

The Lady Tigers will be home for No. 12 Vanderbilt at 3 p.m. Friday and Kentucky at noon Sunday.

The Lady Tigers have been far better at home than on the road, earning a 6-0 record at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium compared to a 1-3 record away from Baton Rouge. Sell said competing somewhere where they have had success could give the Lady Tigers an mental advantage over the weekend.

Vanderbilt has been steadily climbing the rankings this year after starting outside the top 25, something Sell attributed to their depth. She said it is important to keep rankings in perspective.

“Rankings can be deceptive this early in the season,” Sell said. “A team like Kentucky might think they should be ranked higher and play with nothing to lose.”