BATON ROUGE — The 21st-ranked LSU men’s tennis team is prepared to face its fifth-consecutive top-25 team on Friday, as the Tigers host the No. 23-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We’re facing another tough SEC opponent, which is redundant, since all 12 teams in the conference are ranked among the top-28 teams in the nation,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “South Carolina is a quality team and we’re getting another opportunity to pick up a win against a good opponent.”
LSU enters Friday’s Southeastern Conference dual match looking to snap a four match losing streak. After opening the season with a perfect 3-0 record, the Tigers have been dropped in extremely close matches by No. 2 Illinois, No. 18 Auburn, No. 22 Alabama and the 25th-ranked Texas A&M.
The Tigers currently own a 3-4 overall record and an 0-2 mark against conference opponents. Last weekend, LSU fell in twin 4-1 losses against both Alabama and Auburn on the road to start its 2002 SEC season.
South Carolina heads into Baton Rouge with an overall record of 7-1 on the season and a 1-1 mark in the conference.
Against sixth-ranked Ole Miss on March 3, the Gamecocks suffered their first setback of the season by losing, 5-2, at home in the Sam Daniel Tennis Center. Friday’s match will be the first road contest of the season for South Carolina, as the Gamecocks have played all eight of its matches in Columbia, S.C.
“I think that playing a lot of our matches at 4 p.m. is a good thing,” Brown said. “We changed the times to accommodate our fans and I think that playing at 4 p.m. will allow our fan base to come out and watch. We’re hoping for a good crowd tomorrow.”
The 21st-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will resume conference play on Friday, as the Tigers host the No. 23-ranked Gamecocks at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. Admission is free to all LSU tennis matches.