Tennis fans in Baton Rouge and Oxford, Mississippi, will have a chance at catching an intense LSU versus Ole Miss matchup today as the No. 15 women’s team hosts the Rebels today at 4 p.m. and the No. 43 men’s team takes the courts in Oxford, Mississippi at 5 p.m.
Neither Tiger team is lacking motivation as they enter their third SEC match with a 1-1 record each.
For the women, the SEC has established itself as the toughest conference in the nation with eight teams in the top 25, and all 14 are ranked. Ole Miss coach Mark Beyers said if a team wins half of its conference games, it’s essentially guaranteed a top-15 ranking.
In addition to the intensity of their schedule, the Lady Tigers anticipate playing back at home after a weekend Tuscaloosa and Auburn.
“We always do better at home,” said senior Skylar Kuykendall. “We’re still really confident even though we lost to Auburn; it was just a tough match. Against Ole Miss, we want to play our game and be aggressive. We’re definitely excited for it.”
But it only gets tougher from here as the next three upcoming matchups for the Lady Tigers are No. 28 Mississippi State, No. 19 Kentucky and No. 5 Vanderbilt.
“Your energy needs to be high and you have to bring your A-game,” said women’s co-head coach Michael Sell. “That’s what makes it so much fun. I’d rather have it that way than having off-weeks. It keeps practices energetic and our goals high and we know every win is a great win, while every loss is going to be a hell of a battle.”
Rainy weather conditions, which will most likely move the match to LSU’s indoor courts, is one of many aspects that fall in the Tigers’ favor.
The Lady Tigers’ 6-2 record in indoor matches and experience from beating then-No. 10 Oklahoma State, 4-3, at the ITA Indoor Championships fuels an already strong confidence going into the Ole Miss match.
Though LSU beat the Rebels, 4-2, last season, Ole Miss boasts a more formidable team this year, which was undefeated until March 4.
But even though the Rebels are off to a good start, the Lady Tigers believe they are in an even better position this season.
“Last year, we played indoors and singles first, so even though we won, this might be a better circumstance for us,” Kuykendall said. “We’re at home and play on our court in a regular format. That will certainly help us.”
The men’s team enters the matchup with tremendous momentum from sweeping Sunday’s doubleheader, which featured a 5-2 win against No. 66 Auburn.
“Any time you get back on the right track it feels good and makes practices a little crisper,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “Everybody has their heads up, is walking a little better and feels like we can build on it. We know the personnel in the SEC pretty well, so we know which teams we have better matchups against. There are not a lot of secrets between us and Ole Miss, but it’s a match we’re very hungry for.”
As Brown reminisced about memories of previous matches against the Rebels, last year’s 3-4 loss at home brought up cringing memories.
The Tigers were ranked 24th in the nation at the time and held a 12-game winning streak. Then-No. 13 Ole Miss didn’t see any light in doubles play but turned the game around in singles, allowing only then-junior Boris Arias and then-sophomore Justin Butsch to win their courts.
A chance of rain is also predicted for Oxford and might move the match to the indoor courts. Brown prepared the team for both situations but says the indoor courts will provide a more normal surface than the newly-resurfaced outdoor courts.
“We’ll see how the weather plays out. It could be an interesting scenario,” said senior Andrew Korinek. “I know it’s supposed to rain and they only have three indoor courts there, so that will be a little bit different, but our experience will definitely help us. I expect us to get a little revanche from last year.”

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Wingate Jones

LSU Junior Justin Butsch playing a singles match during LSU's 4-3 victory against the University of North Florida on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 at the LSU Tennis Complex