BATON ROUGE — The 16th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team faces Auburn on Friday at 2 p.m. in the first of two SEC Western Division matches this weekend at the W.T. Robinson Tennis Stadium.
The Tigers (14-7, 2-6) have just one loss in division matches as they enter the last two weeks of the regular season. They lead the Auburn series, 28-9, but the record is 3-3 in the last five seasons. Three of those were 4-3 matches.
“This series has been marked by intensity,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “Every match is a fight to the finish and it will be no different this time.
Auburn (11-6, 2-6 SEC) was ranked in the top-25 for several weeks earlier in the season and is almost back there with a No. 29 ranking this week.
The13th-ranked pair of Gabor Zoltan-Pelva and Alex Schweizer lead Auburn’s doubles lineup. Zoltan-Pelva was ranked 47th in the most recent singles poll.
“Auburn has a strong doubles lineup and a talented singles lineup,” Brown said.
The Auburn match will be just the third for LSU in conference matches. The Tigers are 10-1 at home this season and 12-0 against teams currently ranked outside the top-25.
LSU split its first SEC West matches last weekend with a loss to No. 4 Ole Miss and a win over No. 14 Mississippi State.
Doubles has been a big plus for LSU in its last matches. They have won the doubles point in their last six contests behind big play on the top two courts. No. 39-ranked Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston have won six in a row on court two and No. 7-ranked Ken Skupski and Mark Growcott have won four in a row on court one.
LSU will continue the weekend’s action against Alabama on Sunday at 1 p.m.