BATON ROUGE — The No. 9 LSU men’s tennis team will say good-bye to its three seniors on Tuesday afternoon when it hosts Auburn on Senior Day at “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
“I hope everyone will come out and pay tribute to our seniors who have given so much to LSU in the past four years,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown.
Michal Chmela, Tom Hand and Ed Rubin will each be honored at the match for their achievements at LSU, both as a team and individually.
Chmela, the most decorated of the group, is a two-time all-American and a three-time all-SEC performer. He has been the Louisiana Player of the Year three times and the SEC Player of the Year once, that coming in 1998. He was also the 1999 LSU Male Athlete of the Year.
Hand will leave as at least the third-winningest player in LSU history and still has a chance to move into second. He is an all-American and a two-time all-SEC performer. Last year, he was named the Academic All-American of the Year for all men’s, spring sports. He was also the 1998 LSU Male Athlete of the Year.
Rubin, a Lafayette, La., native, is the first and only African-American to compete in men’s tennis in the 76 year history of the program. He has worked his way up from seeing limited action as a freshman and sophomore to becoming a vital contributor in the past two seasons.
Collectively, this group of seniors has won two SEC Championships, two SEC Tournament Championships and made two Final Four Appearances. Their 78 current wins over four years is currently eighth in LSU history for wins by a class. They should move into fourth by the end of the season.
“This group of seniors will leave as the most successful in LSU history. They have been instrumental in leading us to two Southeastern Conference championships and two Final Fours,” said Brown. “Their influence will be felt here for years to come.”
Facing 32nd-ranked Auburn, the Tigers will try to rebound from a 5-2 loss to No. 11 Tennessee on Saturday. Auburn has won two straight, both by 7-0 decisions.