The LSU men’s tennis team has the opportunity to host a match in the 2008 NCAA tournament for the third time in five years as the Southeastern Conference tournament gets under way today.
The No. 18 Tigers (13-7, 6-5 SEC) are the No. 6 seed in the 12-team field, and they begin play against No. 11 seed Mississippi State at 8:30 a.m. in Fayetteville, Ark. If the Tigers defeat the Bulldogs, they will play on Friday against No. 3 seed Tennessee, the 8th-ranked team in the country.
The nation’s top 16 teams host first-round matches in the NCAA tournament, and LSU men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown said the team’s goal is to raise its ranking and play a first-round match at home. The Tigers have a 10-2 record at home this season.
“The sure way to do it is to beat Mississippi State and then Tennessee,” Brown said. “There’s no way we’d be outside of the top 16 then. That’s the simple mathematical solution.”
Like the men’s team, the Lady Tigers are the No. 6 seed going into SEC tournament play. They will face 11th-seeded Alabama at 10 a.m. in Auburn, Ala., today.
Brown said while the Tigers may be expected to beat the No. 54 Bulldogs on paper, the SEC is a very tough conference. All 12 teams are ranked in the top 125 and three teams are in the top 10.
Senior team captain Kevin Dessauer said a strong start is important for the whole team.
“If we get off to a good start in the doubles point, that’s key because we can loosen up, especially the freshmen,” Dessauer said. “They haven’t been to an SEC tournament, and I think it’s great preparation for the NCAA tournament.”
The No. 30 Lady Tigers (13-8, 6-5 SEC) are on a three-match winning streak, including a 5-2 victory Saturday against Arkansas, which the Lady Tigers will face if they defeat Alabama today.
LSU beat Alabama, 5-2, earlier this season. But women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis said the team cannot afford to look ahead in the tournament.
“It’s dangerous. It doesn’t matter if we beat them [seven] weeks ago,” Minnis said. “I’m trying to convince [them] just to come ready to compete Thursday with no preconceived notions of, ‘This is going to be easy, or this is going to be tough.'”
Sophomore Nicole Kantor said the Lady Tigers have generated great momentum for the tournament by beating three straight conference opponents, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas, to close the season.
“We should definitely use our confidence that we’ve gained through these matches as we go into the Alabama match,” Kantor said. “We’re the favored team, but we cannot overlook them because any team can beat any other team on any given day.”
Kantor earned SEC Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career after clinching the doubles point with Staten Spencer and winning her singles match that clinched the Arkansas victory for the Lady Tigers.
Minnis said the team is showing some of its best competitiveness of the season, and he feels optimistic about their chances in the tournament.
“Overall, there is a lot of confidence with our team right now,” Minnis said. “We’ve won three matches in a row, and we’re playing our best tennis at the right time. We just have to go out and take care of business.”
The SEC tournaments conclude Sunday, and the NCAA tournament will begin Friday, May 9.
—-Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]