HOUSTON — The LSU men’s tennis team will open the 2005 fall season this Friday at the Rice Crowne Plaza Invitational. The season opener of its No. 2 doubles team of Colt Gaston and Danny Bryan will highlight the Tigers’ play.
Gaston and Bryan were ranked No. 27 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason poll released Tuesday, after the pair went 17-2 in doubles play last season.
According to Head Coach Jeff Brown the chance to play will give the team some needed relief from the distractions in Baton Rouge.
“We’re just ready to get out there and play some tennis,” said Brown. “We’ve had a lot to think about here with all of the tragedy around us and hopefully this can help us just get our minds right.”
The three-day tournament will be the debut of two recent Tiger additions, James Cluskey, of Ireland, and Jose Moncada, of Honduras.
“We’re excited to see the new guys come in and hopefully they can get themselves off to a step in the right direction,” Brown said.
Additionally, Brown said he is anxious to see the improvement of his returning letter winners, Paul White and William Lefevre, as well as second year players Martell Campbell and Jonathan Tragardh. Brown feels confidant that their hard off season work will show this weekend.
Brown said, “The guys have been practicing strong and I’m just really excited to see us get this season off to a good start.’
LSU finished the 2004-05 season at No. 10 in ITA national rankings.