No. 1 Illinois migrates South on Thursday to battle No. 18 LSU at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium at 4 p.m.
The Tigers earned a Southeastern Conference split last weekend, defeating Mississippi State last Friday, 4-3. LSU rallied from a 1-0 deficit with four singles victories to claim the match.
No. 53 Peter Richman defeated Rene-Charles Combette, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Bryan Fisher beat Jerome Le Belicard, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Freshman Paul White upended Luc Maasdorp, 7-6, 7-5, while Sebastian Rutka upset No. 123 Max Fomine, 6-1, 6-4.
LSU (11-7, 4-6 SEC) dropped one spot in the rankings this week, following a 5-1 loss to No. 5 Ole Miss last Sunday.
Cory Ross won the only singles match for LSU against the Rebels, defeating Patrick Chucri, 6-1, 6-3. Ross’ victory did not go unnoticed, as he earned his first national ranking of the season at No. 117.
Head coach Jeff Brown said the match versus Illinois will provide the Tigers with a real test heading into the Southeastern Conference and NCAA Tournaments.
“They’ve got one of the most dominant teams in the last few years,” Brown said. “In order [for LSU to be] competitive, everybody is going to have to play to the best of their ability in order to have a chance at winning.”
The Illini come to town with a grand total of seven nationally ranked players, lead by No. 4 Amer Delic and No. 14 Rajeev Ram.
“Potentially, [Illinois] is a team that we would have to play in the second round [of the NCAA tournament],” Brown continued. “The familiarity we gain from playing these type of teams can only help us. Any time you see a team for the second time, you’re going to be better off.”