BATON ROUGE — The 15th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will begin its 2002 dual-match season on Saturday, as the Tigers host both the Centenary Gents (10 a.m.) and Southern Jaguars (2 p.m.) at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We’re really looking forward to getting the season underway and to competing in a team atmosphere again,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “It’s also going to be good to see all of our friends and family back at the courts that we haven’t seen since the summer.”
In the 2001 season-opening doubleheader, LSU faced both Centenary and Southern in dual-match play and the Tigers defeated both in-state rivals by a count of 7-0. LSU is undefeated against both the Gents and the Jaguars as the Tigers own a 13-0 all-time record against Centenary and a 7-0 mark versus Southern.
The Tigers head into Saturday’s contests with two nationally ranked players in senior Dan Kiernan and sophomore Bryan Fisher. Kiernan is currently the 42nd-ranked singles player in the nation and possesses a 7-6 overall record.
The native of Newcastle, England, finished the 2000-01 season with an impressive 25-9 record and an 18-2 mark in No. 2 singles competition.
LSU’s Fisher recovered from a season-ending injury last year to record a dominating fall season. He finished the 2001 fall tournament competition with a 9-7 mark and earned his first-collegiate ranking of No. 85.
The LSU men’s tennis team will open its dual-match season on Saturday with a doubleheader against both Centenary at 10 a.m. and then Southern at 2 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. Admission is free to all LSU home tennis matches.