AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU men’s tennis team earned the No. 2 position in the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division according to the coaches preseason poll the SEC announced Thursday.
The poll picked Ole Miss as the overall regular season champion as well as winner of the SEC West. Alabama came in third with Auburn following in at a close No. 4. Arkansas and Mississippi State completed the Western Division with the fifth and sixth spots.
In the Eastern Division, Tennessee earned the top spot with Florida at No.2. The poll posted Georgia in the third spot with Kentucky in fourth, Vanderbilt in fifth and South Carolina in sixth, respectively.
The preseason poll is voted on by the SEC Men’s Tennis Coaches and is based on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 count.
The announcement comes as the Tigers prepare for their final matches in Auburn Spring Classic before the dual season commences on Jan. 30 at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Kick-Off Weekend.
“We are looking to build on last week’s SEC Coaches’ Indoor and have one more chance to work before we go into dual matches,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “The teams that are here will give us a good opportunity to face the level of competition we are going to face next week.”
The eight Tigers participating in the Auburn Spring Classic are Mark Bowtell, Sebastian Carlsson, James Cluskey, Julien Gauthier, Ryan Lissner, David Roberts, Neal Skupski and Jonathan Tragardh.
The flighted tournament will have LSU facing Arkansas on Friday, Virginia Tech on Saturday and closing out the tournament against Auburn on Sunday.
LSU’s first match against Arkansas is slated to begin Friday at 10 a.m. CDT.
2009 Men’s Tennis Coaches Preseason Poll
Eastern Division
1. Tennessee 67
2. Florida 59
3. Georgia 53
4. Kentucky 35
5. Vanderbilt 22
6. South Carolina 16
Western Division
1. Ole Miss 71
2. LSU 54
3. Alabama 44
4. Auburn 43
5. Arkansas 22
6. Mississippi State 18
Overall Regular Season Champion: Ole Miss (7 votes); Tennessee (3); Florida (2)
Auburn Spring Classic
Jan. 23-25
Auburn, Ala.
All Times Central
Jan. 23, Flight 1
LSU vs. Arkansas, 10 a.m.