BATON ROUGE — The 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will attempt to secure a second-place finish in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference on Saturday as the Tigers host the Arkansas Razorbacks in a critical league matchup at noon at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“It’s important that we do our best job to come out and take care of business against Arkansas,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “So far, we’ve been able to get some wins over the higher-ranked teams that we’ve faced and we’ve done a really good job of taking care of the teams that are behind us.”
LSU heads into Saturday’s SEC finale with an overall record of 11-8 on the season and a 4-6 mark against conference opponents.
The Tigers are currently in a three-way tie for second place in the Western Division along with No. 14 Alabama and 22nd-ranked Auburn. Since LSU defeated Auburn earlier in the season, the Tigers need a win against Arkansas on Saturday and an Alabama loss versus Auburn in order to finish second in the West. Fifth-ranked Ole Miss leads the division with an 8-2 record.
On Thursday, the Tigers turned in a good performance against top-ranked Illinois, but fell short by a score of 6-1 due to a pair of losses in late third-set matches. All eight of LSU’s losses during the 2003 dual-match season have come against teams currently ranked among the nation’s top 20.
Arkansas enters Saturday’s Western Division rivalry with a 12-11 overall record on the season and a 3-7 mark versus SEC opponents. The 28th-ranked Razorbacks possess an 8-11 mark against ranked teams and a 2-6 record in road contests. In SEC dual play, Arkansas has registered victories over No. 11 Alabama, 4-3, and the 25th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores, 4-3.
LSU will be led in Thursday’s matchup by 52nd-ranked Peter Richman, 117th-ranked Cory Ross and the 21st-ranked doubles combination of Jason Hazley and Bryan Fisher. Ross, who missed Thursday’s match versus Illinois due to the flu, is expected to play at the No. 2 doubles and No. 4 singles positions against Arkansas.
In last year’s annual border war between the two schools, LSU upset the higher ranked Razorbacks, 4-3, in Fayetteville, Ark. The win proved to be vital for the Tigers as it jumpstarted a four-match winning streak and propelled them to an eighth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
The 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will attempt to win its 13th-consecutive match against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday as the Tigers host their final contest of the 2003 season at noon at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.