HOUSTON — The LSU men’s tennis team will open its fall schedule this weekend against tough opponents from some of the top teams in the nation at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Jack Hess Tennis Stadium at Rice University.
The tournament features players from Rice, Notre Dame and Tulsa.
“There are several ranked players,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “All three could be top-20 teams when team rankings come out.”
Two of the Tigers’ four nationally ranked players will play Friday. Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley, the seventh-ranked doubles team in the country according to the International Tennis Association, play at 1:30 p.m.
Freshmen Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston will make their debut as Tigers Friday.
Bryan will play Rodrigo Gabriel of Rice at 11 a.m. and Gaston will play Take Morita of Rice at 9 a.m.
“This is going to be a good opportunity to see where we are at this point,” Brown said. “We get to kick things off and see where we are relative to our competition.”
Peter Richman, Sebastian Rutka and Cory Ross will not make the trip due to injuries. Richman and Rutka are ranked 36th and 89th by ITA.
Singles matches will begin at 9 a.m. each day and doubles begin at 1:30 p.m.