BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team will compete in its fourth-consecutive home contest on Friday, as the Tigers host the 15th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We definitely want to get off to a good start against Tennessee,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “They have a very talented team and we don’t want to start off in a hole and have to come from behind in singles play. We had a good week of practice and I think that the guys are ready for the challenge.”
LSU heads into Friday’s Southeastern Conference battle with a 3-6 overall record. Despite owning six losses on the season, the Tigers are the 28th-ranked team in the nation and have not lost to a team ranked lower than No. 25. Last week, LSU was edged out by both No. 23 South Carolina, 5-2, and No. 18 Florida, 4-3.
The Volunteers come to Baton Rouge with an overall record of 8-4 on the season. Tennessee split last weekend’s conference matches against Alabama and Auburn in its first road trip of SEC play. The Volunteers dropped Alabama, 4-2, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and then fell, 4-3, against Auburn. Tennessee is 2-2 in the SEC.
In last season’s contest between the two SEC rivals, the Tigers defeated Tennessee, 4-1, at home at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. With the win, LSU handed the Volunteers one of its two conference losses of the season and improved its lead in the all-time series to 25-19-1.
The Tigers will be led by senior Dan Kiernan and sophomore Bryan Fisher on Friday. Kiernan is the 103rd-ranked player in the nation, while Fisher is No. 105. The tandem has combined for an overall record of 25-22 on the season for LSU
Tennessee boasts three nationally-ranked singles players and a pair of ranked doubles teams. Peter Handoyo is the seventh-ranked player in the nation, while Mario Toledo is No. 12 and Mark Dietrich comes in as the 80th-ranked singles player in the country. The Volunteers’ doubles combinations of Simon Rea/Toledo and Dietrich/Handoyo are ranked No. 15 and No. 46, respectively.
The LSU men’s tennis team will look to end a six-match losing skid on Friday, as the Tigers host the 15th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.