As the No. 16 LSU women’s tennis team opens its final home weekend against No. 4 Georgia at 4 p.m. today, the No. 39 men’s team hits the road to take on Tennessee at 1 p.m. in the Volunteers’ Barksdale Stadium.
For the Lady Tigers, Georgia will be their highest-ranked guest this season.
The Bulldogs have consistently led the Southeastern Conference in the rankings since March 1 and held the No. 2 spot in the nation in late January. Still, these numbers mean nothing to an LSU team that only keeps its eyes on improvement and the upcoming postseason, LSU co-head coach Julia Sell said.
“At the end of the year, we define success by if we maximized our potential,” she said. “Right now, no, I don’t think we’re even close. This team knows that, but if we continue to improve on the practice court in the next three-to-four weeks, we’re going to keep putting ourselves in a position to get into that top 10 and make a run at the NCAA Tournament.”
Today’s match also marks LSU’s third-straight top-10 matchup, as the team comes off a tough road trip against then-No. 6 Florida and then-No. 8 South Carolina.
The Lady Tigers returned on a two-game losing streak but found increased confidence in the positives of their performances, players and coaches said.
Not only did LSU hold tight doubles play, but The Tigers also forced four of the six singles courts to a third set. In the end, LSU’s 6-1 loss to Florida — who remains undefeated in conference play — served as great preparation.
“In years past, we’ve gone into those matches not really believing that we actually had a chance,” said junior Abigail Owens. “Seeing how close we went with Florida, it definitely gives us confidence going into Georgia.”
While the Lady Tigers close the weekend with senior day on Sunday against Tennessee, the men’s team enters its road stretch coming off a split doubleheader.
After opening their final weekend at home with a nail-biting 4-3 victory against then-No. 59 South Carolina last Friday, the Tigers fell to then-No. 7 Georgia in heartbreaking fashion the following Sunday before finally celebrating senior day with a 7-0 victory over New Orleans.
However, LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown said their development throughout conference play sparks optimism and losing 4-3 to a top-10 team is anything but negative.
“Their confidence is trending up with everything we got through following the Alabama-Mississippi State weekend,” Brown said. “That was a little bit of a low point. From there on, we really picked it up and got things together from a chemistry and energy standpoint. Our tennis level certainly follows that.”
There is added pressure as the team heads into the first of its remaining three matches of the regular season.
After rising in the rankings from 44 to 39 in the nation, a bid to the NCAA Championships is far from secure. Brown, though, said the team has focused on the tournament all season.
“I think these guys are developed enough to know that every match is valuable,” Brown said. “We understand where we are. Every match, it’s important to do your best in order to give yourself the best chance to be in the top 43 or 44, which has been the cutoff the last few years.”
The Tigers, though, expect Tennessee to be hungry for victory.
After finishing last season with a 19-11 overall record, the Volunteers have yet to win a conference match but enter with momentum from a two-game winning streak.
With three matches before the SEC Championship, the Tigers have to prepare for a busy traveling schedule. After the Tennessee matchup, the team is set to travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to take on the Wildcats on Sunday, and their matchup against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, the following Friday will close the regular season.
“Personally, I like traveling quite a bit,” said junior Justin Butsch. “Sometimes it’s tough against a road crowd, if they get on you. You just try to not focus on anything but yourself, control what you can control and do your best.”
LSU junior Justin Butsch returns the ball during the Tigers' match against UNO on Sunday, April 3, 2016 at the LSU Tennis Complex.
