BATON ROUGE — The No. 13-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will play its last non-conference match of the regular season Tuesday when it host No. 6 Illinois at 4 p.m. at the W.T “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
The Tigers (10-2, 3-1 SEC) defeated Texas A&M, 4-3, on Saturday for their third-straight win. This will be the eighth meeting between the two teams and first since 2002, when the Illini defeated the Tigers, 6-1, in Baton Rouge.
“It should be a hard-fought match. Both teams have a talented group of doubles teams and a solid crew for singles,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “They have two of the top players in the nation for singles and we are going to have to play well at each spot for a chance to win. We are hoping to have a nice crowd come out and join us for the afternoon match.”
This will be LSU’s third match against a top-10 opponent this season. The Tigers only two loses came against No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Ohio State.
Under second-year head coach Brad Dancer, the Illini (10-3, 3-0 Big Ten) have won three straight matches, most recently against No. 29 Wisconsin on Sunday. The Illini have defeated three top-10 teams this season, including defending NCAA champion Pepperdine in its season opener.
There should be a heated battle for the doubles point as each team features highly touted duos. For the Illini, defending NCAA Doubles Champions Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe lead the way and have won five straight matches. Anderson and Rowe have also shined in singles as they are both ranked in the top 10.
The Tigers boasts two teams ranked in the top 10. The No. 5-ranked team of James Cluskey and Ken Skupski has won a team-best 15 wins this season. The No. 9-ranked pair of Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston has been dominant in doubles this season with an outstanding 13-1 record this season. The SEC Indoor Doubles Champions have won 24 out of their last 25 matches.
Cluskey has also shined in singles, where he was won four straight matches. The Ireland native celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by clinching LSU’s 4-3 win against Texas A&M.
Skupski sits 6th on LSU’s career singles wins list with 97.
LSU’s other co-captain, Danny Bryan, is also climbing the career singles wins list. The New Orleans native has compiled 77 wins during his career and with a win on Tuesday, he would move into sole possession of 20th place all-time.
The Tigers return to SEC play on Friday when they travel to South Carolina for a 1 p.m. match.