BATON ROUGE — Senior Michael Venus of the LSU men’s tennis team is set to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Indoor Championships beginning on Thursday at the tournament hosted by the University of Virginia.
Venus, No. 20 in ITA preseason polls, has gone undefeated with a perfect 6-0 record in fall tournament play. The 6-3 senior’s victory in October over No. 1 Oleksandr Nedovyesov in the finals of the D’Novo All-American Championships earned him the tournament crown and solidified his spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships.
“Mike is playing well and is focused on playing one match at a time,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “He has used the confidence he gained from his good play at the All-Americans and has practiced as well as I’ve seen him practice.”
In his first match, Venus will take on No. 34 Clancy Shields of Boise State. Shields owns a 6-1 mark for fall and a 1-1 record against ranked opponents as well as the 2008 ITA Mountain Region Championships title.
The two nationally ranked players will square off on Thursday in a 12:30 p.m. match at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
ITA National Indoor Championships
November 6-9, 2008
Charlottesville, Va.
All Times Central
Nov. 6
Singles
Round of 32
#20 Michael Venus vs. # 34 Clancy Shields, 12:30 p.m.