LEXINGTON, Ky. — The eighth-ranked LSU men’s tennis team travels to Lexington, Ky., for a 6 p.m. match with the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday.
LSU (17-3, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) is currently in a third place tie in the league and needs to win to hold on to its bye in the first round of the SEC Tournament next week.
“We need to win to keep alive our goals of a first round-bye in the SEC tournament and to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournaments,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown.
The Tigers will be led into the match by a pair of seniors, both of whom are ranked. Michal Chmela is currently ranked 21st while Ed Rubin is ranked No. 100, the first ranking of his career.
Chmela teams with sophomore Dan Kiernan to form the 17th ranked doubles tandem in the country.
Senior Tom Hand, who is ranked 19th, will not play due to an ankle injury suffered last weekend against Tennessee.
Kentucky (11-11, 4-5) is led by the play of No. 23 Carlos Drada and No. 75 Johan Hesoun.
“Kentucky is a good team that has the ability to upset a lot of people. Without Tom, this match becomes much more tougher for us,” said Brown.
Last season Kentucky defeated LSU 5-2 in Baton Rouge in a match that spanned two days due to rain.