COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The No. 13-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will take a break from conference play when it travels to Texas A&M Saturday for an 11 a.m. match up.
The Tigers (9-2, 3-1 SEC) spilt their first two road matches by defeating Tennessee and falling to Georgia. Additionally, the Tigers are 6-1 in non-conference matches. The Aggies (10-4, 0-0 Big 12) have won four out of their last five matches. The two teams faced off in Baton Rouge last season, but were not able to finish the match due to poor weather conditions.
Texas A&M is led by first-year head coach Steve Denton and hold a 20-15 all-time record against LSU.
“We have had a great rivalry over the last several years with the Aggies,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “It has always been a tough match. Unfortunately, Last year we weren’t able to finish. We have a lot of respect for their team and know it is going to be a big challenge.”
The Tigers picked up two 6-1 victories in SEC play last weekend over the Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores.
Six out of LSU’s nine wins have come against opponents ranked in the top 60.
The Tigers boasts two doubles duos ranked in the top 10 with James Cluskey and Ken Skupski (No. 5), and Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston (No. 9.) LSU’s strong doubles play has proven to be a crucial momentum swing as it lost the only two matches where it did not capture the doubles point.
In singles rankings, the Tigers list three players, including Skupski (No. 21), Bryan (No. 37) and Kevin Dessauer (No. 86.)
Skupski is 16-9 on the season and has won two straight matches against ranked opponents. The Liverpool, England native owns 97 career singles victories which places him 6th on LSU’s career singles victories list.
Bryan leads the team with 18 victories and is 4-0 in non-conference dual play.
Dessauer has been the most improved Tiger this season. The former walk on started the season 8-0 and owns a 9-2 record in dual play.