The LSU men’s tennis team opens up Southeastern Conference play at 3 p.m. today against No. 9 Kentucky (11-3) at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
The Tigers (6-2) jumped 11 spots to No. 17 after winning three matches last weekend, including a 4-3 victory over No. 12 Texas A&M.
“Simply, we beat a good team,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “It gives you confidence that can you beat another good team.”
LSU will host stiff competition this weekend, facing the second-highest ranked team in the SEC, No. 9 Kentucky, today and No. 48 Vanderbilt (5-5) on Sunday.
The Kentucky Wildcats will bring in three singles players ranked in the top 25 in No. 6 Eric Quigley, No. 14 Anthony Rossi and No. 16 Alex Musialek. The Wildcats also boast two other ranked singles players with No. 98 Tom Jomby and No. 107 Alejandro Gomez.
Kentucky has also been solid in doubles, led by the No. 27-ranked pair of Quigley and Panav Jha.
As a team, the Wildcats have only lost three matches on the season, with two losses to No. 2 Ohio State and another against No. 7 Stanford.
The Tigers hope to recreate the magic they produced Sunday against Texas A&M to keep their three-game win streak alive and pull yet another upset.
“We created our own fortune, but we better treat every team with the same respect and understand that in order to get a win like [against Texas A&M] we had to work extremely hard,” Brown said. “We had to compete, and we still had to have some things happen for us, so we take nothing for granted.”
The Tigers then take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at home Sunday at 1 p.m. The Commodores feature the No. 62-ranked singles player Charlie Jones and No. 40 Gonzales Austin and Alex DiValerio in doubles.
“We have to make sure our approach stays the same as far as how hungry we were for the win and understanding that nothing is given to us,” Brown said.
LSU saw a solid week in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings as junior Olivier Borsos reached No. 66 in singles. Borsos and partner freshman Chris Simpson fell to No. 38 after going 2-1 over the weekend, while the undefeated duo of senior Neal Skupski and sophomore James Turbervill came in at No. 39.
“Rankings are nice for promotions, but really, that won’t matter until it’s NCAA tournament time,” Brown said. “It’s great and exciting, but we have to keep our approach the same.”
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Contact Ian Fontenont at [email protected]
Men’s Tennis: LSU kicks off SEC play
March 2, 2012