A 14-9 regular season record and a 5-6 Southeastern Conference record earned the LSU men’s tennis team a No. 21 national ranking and the No. 8 seed in the SEC tournament.
The Tigers will begin their SEC tournament campaign today when they square off against No. 9 seed Vanderbilt, who they defeated, 6-1, at home in March.
The Commodores have been reeling since the defeat, posting a 2-7 record with six straight losses, but LSU coach Jeff Brown said the Tigers can’t take any match at the tournament for granted.
“We know it’s going to be as tough a match as any SEC match is,” Brown said. “We definitely respect every match that we play here, and it’s difficult to get results.”
The Tigers, on the other hand, come into the match red-hot, having won three straight matches, including an upset of No. 9 Florida in the last home match of the season.
LSU now has three ranked singles players in No. 38 Olivier Borsos, No. 54 Neal Skupski and No. 91 Chris Simpson.
Borsos and Skupski both enter the SEC tournament with three straight victories.
“They’ve been the top performing part of our lineup percentage wise, which is important because if you can pick up wins in those spots it really gives you a good chance,” Brown said.
The LSU women’s tennis team will also begin SEC tournament play today as the No. 7 seed against No. 10 seed Arkansas.
The No. 41 Lady Tigers (11-11, 4-7 SEC) will be looking for revenge against the Razorbacks, who ruined their final home match of the season with a 5-2 upset victory Saturday.
“There aren’t many times you have two shots at a team within a week’s time,” said LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis. “We’re fortunate that it worked out, and we have another shot at Arkansas.”
LSU will face No. 2 seed Alabama if they can advance past the Razorbacks.
“We’ve been a little bit up and down this year, but if we can put it together, I feel very confident,” Minnis said.
 
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