Teams often get snake-bitten when they look past a lesser opponent in favor of a more challenging one.
The LSU men’s tennis team avoided a letdown as they rolled by Lamar and Nicholls State in double-header matches to open the spring season Jan. 18. But even before the season started, the Tigers (3-1) had their eyes set on San Diego the following weekend in the opening round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend in College Station, Texas.
LSU’s focus didn’t go to waste as it finished off the Toreros, 4-2, to advance to the championship round.
“We had really been pointing to San Diego for a long time,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “We couldn’t completely overlook [Nicholls and Lamar], but we were assuming we would somehow get through those [matches]. [We knew] San Diego was going to be a big challenge, and it was. We gained some confidence.”
Gaining confidence is huge for a team that features only one senior, and it’s something the Tigers want to build on as they turn to dual matches against Purdue (2-2) on Saturday and Wisconsin (1-2) on Sunday at “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
Facing quality opponents is nothing new to Brown’s club, which plays in a talented conference it went 2-10 in last season. The Tigers got an early taste of the type of opponents they would play in the Southeastern Conference in a 1-4 loss to TCU in the championship round of the ITA Kickoff on Sunday.
No. 18 TCU had knocked off then-No. 10 Texas A&M to secure its spot in the final.
“We didn’t really lose a lot of confidence against TCU,” Brown said. “We knew going into the season they were a top-10 team, and they beat Texas A&M, who was at [No.] 10. We really knew what level they were, so we saw that we are not far off from that level.”
LSU’s emotional high was brought back down as junior Boris Arias won the only match for the Tigers on Sunday, 6-1, 6-3. Brown said his team played well for about five days in a row, including practice and the San Diego match, but fell flat when it reached the Horned Frogs.
Arias, who is 4-0 in singles to start the season, agreed with Brown about how close the Tigers are to competing with teams like TCU.
“There’s always something you can improve on. That’s why we have this week to practice,” Arias said. “We have to try to practice as hard as we can and do the things we didn’t do last weekend against TCU. [We need to] just try our best this Saturday and Sunday.”
Although Arias, junior Andrew Korinek and sophomore Jordan Daigle are dealing with lingering injuries, the Tigers won’t be able to look past Purdue, which returns six players from last year’s NCAA Tournament team.
The Boilermakers dropped both of their matches last weekend against Tulsa and Auburn, and Wisconsin lost two of its three opening matches to East Tennessee State and Washington.
“I don’t know very much [about Purdue and Wisconsin], but every single school has very good players,” Arias said. “I know they are going to be good, so we have to be ready for them, too.”