BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team will look to earn a weekend sweep on Sunday, as the Tigers host the No. 5-ranked Ole Miss Rebels at 1 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We found the right recipe against Mississippi State on Friday,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “Now, we just need to continue playing with confidence and compete hard against Ole Miss tomorrow. It would be great to send Jesse (Smatt) and Dan (Kiernan) off with a huge upset win.”
Sunday’s Southeastern Conference matchup will also feature a Senior Picnic before the match in honor of LSU’s two great seniors, Dan Kiernan and Jesse Smatt. The pair will play the final SEC contest of their illustrious four-year careers on Sunday against Ole Miss.
Kiernan and Smatt have each been a vital members of LSU’s men’s tennis team since 1998 and the combination has accumulated 140-total singles wins during their careers. Kiernan, a native of Newcastle, England, was named an All-American in 2000 and owns 15-14 overall record this season while playing primarily at the No. 1 position.
Smatt, the Tigers’ fiery competitor from Cooper City, Fla., has been a staple in LSU’s lineup since his junior season and has compiled 65 singles wins on his career. He has also been valuable for the Tigers in doubles play with 76-total wins in his four years at LSU.
“Both Jesse and Dan have been integral parts of our team for the past four years and we are definitely going to miss them,” Brown said. “They have each contributed a lot to our program and hopefully we can get them a win today.”
LSU enters Sunday’s “Senior Day” contest with an overall record of 6-11 on the season and an SEC mark of 1-8. The Tigers knocked off Mississippi State, 5-2, on Friday for their first conference win of the season.
The Rebels head into the match with a 14-4 overall record on the season and 6-3 mark against conference opponents. Ole Miss defeated Arkansas on Friday, 5-2.
The LSU men’s tennis team will look to win its second-consecutive SEC match of Sunday, as the Tigers host the fifth-ranked Ole Miss Rebels at 1 p.m. on Senior Day at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.