BATON ROUGE — The 26th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team returns to Southeastern Conference play Friday afternoon when it hosts defending national champion and third-ranked Georgia at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium for a 1 p.m. contest.
The Tigers (9-4, 2-2 SEC) defeated 17th-ranked Rice, 4-2, on Tuesday for their first road win of the season. LSU is 8-1 at Robinson Stadium this season.
The Bulldogs (14-1, 4-0 SEC) swept in-state opponent Georgia Tech, 7-0, on March 12 in their last match. The defending SEC Champions have won 34 straight conference matches dating back to March 3, 2006.
Last season, LSU and Georgia squared off twice with the Bulldogs coming out on top in both matches.
The two conference foes first met in Athens, Ga., during the regular season where the Bulldogs won by a 6-1 mark. They met again in the SEC Tournament semifinals in Baton Rouge. LSU was the only team to get a doubles or singles win against Georgia during the tournament, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs won the match, 4-1, and went on to win their second-straight tournament title.
Georgia currently sits in front of the SEC East with a 4-0 record, while LSU (2-2) is third in the West behind Ole Miss (3-1) and Alabama (3-1).
“We have been playing better each week, and it will be a great challenge to maintain that level of improvement from here on out,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “Georgia is our next challenge and they are one of the best teams we will face this season.”
LSU will welcome a number of former Tiger tennis players to Robinson Stadium who are in town for the LSU men’s tennis reunion which will take place Thursday night at Tiger Stadium. The LSU marketing and promotions department will also be on hand to pass out “Jack in the Box” water bottles to the first 100 fans that arrive at the “Dub”. There will be contests taking place, including a trivia contest, giving fans a chance to win LSU prize packs.
“There will be a lot of excitement at the courts with the many former Tigers in the stands,” Brown commented. “We hope people come out to visit, reminisce and enjoy the match.”
Freshman Sebastian Carlsson leads LSU in wins this season with 20. The two-time SEC Freshman of the Week has been perfect at the six spot with a 6-0 record. LSU has yet to lose a match at the six spot with an 11-0 record this season.
LSU’s top two singles players, Michael Venus and Jan Zelezny, have been dominant at home for the Tigers with a combined 14-2 record. The two Tigers have combined for seven wins against ranked opponents this season.
LSU’s top doubles team of James Cluskey and Venus owns a 9-2 record. The LSU tandem has won five-straight matches.
Five Georgia singles players are listed in the national rankings. Leading the way in the singles rankings is senior Travis Helgeson at No. 6. Also in the top 10 is sophomore Nate Schnugg at No. 8. Following Helgeson and Schnugg are junior Jamie Hunt (No.36), senior Luis Flores (No.63) and freshman Javier Garrapiz (No. 93).
Georgia represents two doubles pairs in the rankings with Garrapiz and Helgeson (No. 30) and Hunt and Schnugg (No. 31).