The 20th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team begins its bid for the school’s third Southeastern Conference Tournament title today at 2 p.m. against Mississippi State University.
The match will be held in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at the University of Alabama’s Varsity Courts, the host site of the tournament.
The last time LSU won the SEC Tournament was in 1999, and advanced to the quarterfinal round of last year’s tournament.
The Tigers (15-8, 7-4 SEC) enter today’s match on a two-match losing streak and need a strong performance in the tournament to earn a regional host site for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Host sites are awarded to the nation’s top 16 ranked teams.
“The guys know the value of these matches as far as for NCAA purposes,” said coach Jeff Brown. “They’re irritated with the losses. They’re angry, they’re disappointed and that should fuel them to give a great effort. Personally, I’m hungry for a win. The guys on the team feel the same way. We haven’t lost more than two matches in a row all year, and we certainly don’t want to start that trend at this point.”
Fifth-seeded LSU last faced Mississippi State on April 2 and defeated the Bulldogs 7-0 in Baton Rouge at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
Mississippi State, the tournament’s 12th seed, is on a seven-match losing streak.
Brown said that number is misleading because the Bulldogs (4-13, 1-10) have shown improvement in their last few matches.
Brown gave special attention to the Bulldogs hard-fought 4-3 loss Saturday to No. 13 Ole Miss.
“They had match-point on Ole Miss their last time out,” Brown said. “We’re very focused on Mississippi State.”
If the Tigers get past the Bulldogs today, they will face fourth-seeded Kentucky on Friday.
The 30th-ranked Wildcats defeated the Tigers 4-3 on March 10 in Lexington, Ky.
Both Kentucky and LSU finished with identical 7-4 records in the SEC this season. Kentucky received the fourth seed and first-round bye because of their victory earlier this year.
“You always like to get a shot at a team that you’ve lost to,” Brown said. “But we don’t have the luxury of looking ahead because Mississippi State’s playing their best tennis of the year.”
LSU junior Ken Skupski said that in order for the Tigers to win the tournament, they will probably have to get past top-seeded Georgia (22-0, 11-0).
Georgia is the No. 1 team in the country and defeated LSU 6-1 on March 5 in Baton Rouge.
If the teams meet, it would be in the semifinal round of the tournament.
“Our toughest match this year was against Georgia,” Skupski said. “This time, if we do get that far, we do have a better matchup against them. If you can get a good matchup against a team, anybody can beat anybody.”
Contact Matt Mears at [email protected]
