It’s crunch time for the LSU men and women’s tennis teams as Southeastern Conference play begins this weekend.Fierce competition contributed to the Tigers (2-5) and Lady Tigers’ (2-6) early struggles, but they can reverse course by defeating South Carolina and Florida.The No. 73 LSU men’s team hosts No. 41 South Carolina (6-2) on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a Sunday afternoon matchup against No. 7 Florida (8-2) . The LSU women’s tennis team travels to No. 58 South Carolina (4-3) on Friday and No. 6 Florida (9-2) on Saturday. LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown said he expects the Gamecocks to play with added ferocity for their outgoing coach.”Their coach is in his final year,” Brown said. “He’s been coaching for 30 something years, so they’re probably playing hard for him.”Brown said the Gamecocks are solid but no more talented than the Tigers.”Matchup-wise I think it’s very even,” he said. “The doubles point could go either way depending on the day, and several singles matches are toss-ups.”Brown said the Gators are nearly unstoppable when they’re on their game, but travel could affect Florida’s young team.”You never know how teams are going to react on the road,” Brown said.Four of the seven teams the Tigers have faced this season were ranked in the top 20 when LSU faced them. Sophomore Neal Skupski said LSU’s vigorous schedule has prepared the Tigers for SEC play.”We played a lot of top-20 teams,” Skupski said. “But the young guys, they got a lot of experience. I think they’ve matured very quickly, and that can only help us against South Carolina and Florida.”The Lady Tigers also have a full plate in dealing with the Gators. Florida is coming off wins against then-No. 15 Florida State and then-No. 6 Duke.LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis said he’s shaking things up in doubles.Sophomore Whitney Wolf and freshman Keri Frankenberger form the normal No. 1 doubles team. Minnis said Wolf will team up with freshman Kaitlin Burns in the one spot, and Frankenberger will match up with senior Hannah Robinson at the No. 2 slot this weekend.”I think the biggest issue for us without question is we need to improve doubles,” Minnis said. “I think that’s the key, and that’s why we made some changes.”Burns is playing phenomenal tennis and is on a seven-match win streak.”She’s really dedicated herself and done a tremendous job for us,” Minnis said.Minnis said the Gamecocks are equally as talented as the Lady Tigers.”They’re similar to us in a way,” Minnis said. “We ended up beating them last year. They’ve got three or four starters back from that team.”The LSU women’s team has dropped its last six matches, but Minnis said the youthful Lady Tigers could give the Gamecocks and Gators a handful.”We need to knock somebody off and kind of get back in the picture,” Minnis said.——Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]