Both LSU tennis teams travel to Alabama this weekend for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Southern Regional Tournament.
The men take the court Friday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on the University of Alabama’s varsity courts, while the women will play in Birmingham.
Junior Neal Skupski, fresh off a disappointing 0-2 performance at the ITA All-American Tournament, will play for just the second time this season.
“[The All-American Tournament] turned out to be just a chance for Neal to get started,” said LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown. “We were hoping for better results. It was kind of a wake-up call to get his work level up.”
Skupski, ranked No. 31 nationally, is the projected No. 3 seed in the field, which includes schools from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Auburn’s Tim Puetz and Ole Miss’ Marcel Thiemann, both of whom hail from Germany, enter the weekend seeded No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
Eight Tigers will compete in the single elimination field.
Joining Skupski are senior Sebastian Carlsson, juniors Mark Bowtell and Tom Knights, and sophomores Stefan Szacinski, Olivier Borsos, James Turbervill and Roger Anderson.
All eight Tigers will compete in the doubles draw, led by Carlsson and Skupski. The duo reached the semifinals of the consolation bracket in the All-American Tournament in Tulsa, Okla., in their first tournament of the season.
The bracket champions earn a spot in the National Intercollegiate Tournament in Flushing, N.Y., the site of the U.S. Open.
“It’s a challenging event,” Brown said. “Any win you get will be a good one.”
Coach Tony Minnis’ women’s squad will look to continue the strong play that produced three Sunday wins, all by freshmen, in Northwestern’s Wildcat Fall Invitational on Oct. 10.
Yvette Vlaar, Ariel Morton and Hayley Everett all notched victories on the tournament’s final day.
Both Southern Regionals run through Monday.
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Contact Hunt Palmer at [email protected]