The LSU women’s tennis team is glad to be back on its home outdoor courts this weekend to face two Southeastern Conference foes.The No. 24 Lady Tigers (11-6, 1-4) were swept by Tennessee on Sunday on the Lady Vols’ indoor courts, and LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis said the team has important opportunities to win this weekend at home today against No. 16 Florida and Sunday against South Carolina.”Any time in the SEC when you play on the road, it’s always a challenge,” Minnis said. “We have 11 teams in the conference ranked in the top 30 in the nation. The major disadvantage for us against Tennessee was that we haven’t played indoors since Feb. 8, so we’re excited to be back outdoors.”Florida leads the all-time series with LSU, 34-0, and last season the Gators won, 6-1, against a banged up LSU team. This season, the Lady Tigers have also suffered injuries — senior Megan Falcon, ranked No. 17 in the nation, missed the Oregon match, and senior Staten Spencer and junior Hannah Robinson have been plagued with injuries.Robinson, who has endured back pain and missed four matches, said the team has had hard practices this week, and she said she is excited to take on two tough opponents at home.”We’ve been improving our strokes and doing a lot of different drills to prepare for Florida,” Robinson said. “And we’ve gotten some match play in.”Minnis said the Lady Tigers have been through “a lot of adversity” with their injuries, but he said this is the healthiest the team has been all year.MEN’S TEAM TAKES WEEKEND ROAD TRIPThe men’s team is on the road again this weekend to face No. 10 Florida today and No. 17 South Carolina on Sunday.Senior Michael Venus advanced to No. 6 in the Campbell/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings on Tuesday, and he was also named SEC Athlete of the Week.Venus is on a four-match winning streak against nationally ranked opponents, including a win against then-No. 7 John-Patrick Smith of Tennessee, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.LSU (6-8, 1-5) lost to Tennessee, 4-3, when freshman Mark Bowtell lost a three-set duel with Christian Hansen that gave the Tigers their fifth loss in SEC play.The doubles team of Venus and freshman Neal Skupski also moved up in the rankings this week. The tandem is 8-6 this season and leads LSU in doubles.Their most recent win was against then-No. 27 Thomas Estrada and Lucas Jovita of South Florida, 8-4.——Contact Rachel Whittaker [email protected]