BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team improved seven positions in the weekly Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings on Wednesday as the Tigers earned a No. 20 ranking in the national poll administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
LSU (9-5, 2-4 SEC) made its significant jump in Wednesday’s rankings after defeating 16th-ranked Texas, 4-3, on Saturday in a thrilling come-from-behind victory at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. Texas, which fell one spot to No. 17 in the national rankings, held a 3-1 lead in Saturday’s non-conference matchup.
The Tigers’ five losses of the 2003 campaign have all come against opponents currently ranked among the top 20.
This season, LSU has dropped hard-fought matches versus No. 2 Florida, No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 16 Alabama, No. 18 South Carolina as well as the 19th-ranked and defending Southeastern Conference champion Georgia Bulldogs.
The Tigers lost to both South Carolina and Georgia by identical scores of 4-3 on the road.
LSU’s Peter Richman, who was named the SEC Player of the Week on Tuesday, moved up 13 spots in the national singles rankings on Wednesday and laid claim to the No. 38 position. Richman capped the Tigers’ 4-3 upset victory over Texas with a match-clinching 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) win over 28th-ranked Jean Simon.
In the doubles rankings, LSU’s tandem of Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley improved one position on Wednesday to earn the No. 13 slot. Fisher and Hazley have been nationally ranked all season long and currently own an impressive 17-7 overall record.
The LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action on Friday, March 28, as the Tigers return to Southeastern Conference play and host the eighth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores at 2 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
Admission is free to all LSU home tennis matches and refreshments will be provided by the Tiger Tennis Athletic Foundation.
Omni Hotels
Collegiate Tennis Rankings
Administered by the ITA
NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis
March 26, 2003
Rank Last School
1 1 Illinois
2 2 Florida
3 4 Baylor
4 3 UCLA
5 6 Ole Miss
6 8 Stanford
7 5 California
8 14 Vanderbilt
9 7 Washington
10 11 Texas A&M
11 9 Duke
12 10 Kentucky
13 12 Minnesota
14 24 Georgia Tech
15 13 Virginia Commonwealth
16 15 Alabama
17 16 Texas
18 18 South Carolina
19 17 Georgia
20 27 LSU
21 38 Virginia
22 42 Pepperdine
23 21 Indiana
24 30 Rice
25 22 Miami (Fla.)