Inclement weather has forced the LSU men’s and women’s tennis teams to reschedule their home openers.
The Tigers (0-2) have already postponed a Thursday doubleheader against in-state rivals Louisiana-Lafayette and UNO. Those matches are now scheduled for Feb. 8.
“It’s going to be dry, but the high is supposed to be 37, and we were supposed to play two matches, so by the time the late one ended, it was going to be below freezing,” said LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown. “That would be a bit rough for the players and spectators.”
The Lady Tigers were scheduled to take on Texas Tech at 1:30 p.m. and Prairie View A&M at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at W. T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
The Prairie View A&M match has been postponed, and a new date has yet to be determined. The match against Texas Tech will be played as scheduled.
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association mandates that no match can be played in weather below 50 degrees or while wind gusts reach 20 miles per hour.
The final decision, however, lies with coaches.
Wednesday marks the beginning of the home schedule for the women’s team. The Lady Tigers have waited 16 days to retake the court after kicking off the season at the Virginia Winter Invitational in Charlottesville, Va.
“We definitely need to play,” said LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis. “We played pretty well last outing, and we need to get out and get some matches going and get some momentum.”
Junior Whitney Wolf and sophomore Keri Frankenberger will attempt to pick up where they left off in Charlottesville. The duo won all three of their doubles matches, the final victory against the No. 16 team in the NCAA, Virginia’s Maria Fuccillo and Rashmi Teltumbde.
“The good thing for [Wolf and Frankenberger] is that we play so many good schools with ranked teams, so they get their fair share of opportunities to prove themselves,” Minnis said.
Texas Tech enters the match 2-0. The Red Raiders clipped Wichita State, 4-3, and blasted New Mexico, 7-0, to begin the spring season.
“They’re good,” Minnis said of Texas Tech. “They’ve got a new coach, and he’s building a pretty solid program over there. It’s gotten to the point in our sport where there are so many good teams out there that you have to be ready to play on [any] given day.”
Wednesday’s match against the Lady Tigers begins a Gulf Coast swing for the Red Raiders, who play Tulane and Alabama on Friday in New Orleans.
 
—-
Contact Hunt Palmer at [email protected]