The No. 13-ranked LSU men’s tennis team looks to continue its winning ways against No. 12 seed Alabama when the team begins Southeastern Conference Tournament play Thursday.
LSU (16-5, 7-4 SEC) is coming off a convincing win against South Carolina on Sunday and heads to Nashville, Tenn., as the No. 5 seed to play Alabama, which the Tigers beat 6-1 earlier in the season.
Coach Jeff Brown said the team has been playing good tennis and has the ability to go far in the tournament.
“I think we are confident,” he said. “We have been playing good doubles and have been putting the pieces together in singles.”
Brown said the team must focus against Alabama.
“Alabama has been unfortunate in some close matches, but they are a team we feel we have an edge over at this point,” he said. “It is important we take it one match at a time though.”
Brown said the Tournament is wide open.
“The top team in it was 9-2 after playing everybody, and that means they lost twice, so everybody is capable of beating each other,” he said. “The top team in the conference is ranked fifth and the lowest is ranked 43. Everybody is good, so it is just a matter of playing better on a given day.”
The Tigers have managed to play better than most of the SEC throughout the season. The team has won six of its last eight matches and finished the season with the fourth-best record in conference play.
Freshman Ken Skupski (25-11, 12-7 SEC), who is ranked 30th in the singles poll, leads the Tigers’ singles team. Skupski has beaten 10 nationally-ranked opponents, the most on the team.
Senior Bryan Fisher and junior Jason Hazley boast an 18-9 overall record for the No. 1 doubles team. The team moved up 10 spots to 16th after its recent three-match win streak.
LSU’s No. 2 doubles team remains undefeated on the year and is the No. 44-ranked team in the nation. Senior Sebastian Rutka and Cory Ross look to carry their undefeated mark through Nashville.
Rutka said the Tigers have a positive outlook on the Tournament.
“We are ready for the challenge,” he said. “If we can get past Alabama we have a good shot at Kentucky. The team has to focus on getting past Alabama first though and take it one match at a time.”
Rutka said the team’s confidence is high.
“We don’t have any bad losses and we have quite a few solid wins,” he said. “The only thing we can do right now is play our best and see what happens.”
Rutka said there is nothing stopping the team from winning it all.
“We have a good shot at winning the Tournament,” he said. “All these teams are solid and they are very similar. Depending on the day, anybody can beat anybody.”
With a win Thursday, the Tigers would play No. 4-seed Kentucky, which along with No. 1-seed Ole Miss, No. 2-seed Florida and No. 3-seed Georgia, earned first round byes. Kentucky, who beat LSU 6-1 in March, earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament after finishing with the same conference record as the Tigers.