BATON ROUGE — The 14th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team has a tough road ahead as the team travels to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday.
“We have had two weeks of practice since Rice and everyone has made improvements,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “Ohio State will give us an opportunity to play and compete at a very high level and give everyone a great opportunity to focus and prepare for the upcoming Southeastern Conference season.”
LSU leads the series record against Ohio State by a narrow 5-4 margin. The last time the two teams met, the Buckeyes overcame the Tigers 5-2 in Baton Rouge in a season during which Ohio State went on to finish third in the nation and made an appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals.
As the two nationally acclaimed teams square off, a combined total of six nationally ranked singles players and four nationally ranked doubles teams have the potential to take to the courts.
LSU (2-1) brings both a nationally ranked singles player and two nationally ranked doubles teams to the competition. Senior Michael Venus, the No. 5 singles player in the nation, leads the Tigers in the rankings.
Venus is also part of the 9th-ranked doubles team with partner Neal Skupski. The Tiger tandem is at a perfect 3-0 mark in dual season competition. LSU duo James Cluskey and Julien Gauthier also debuted in the Campbell-Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings for the first time on Thursday as the pair was listed at No. 53.
Ohio State (10-1) holds five nationally-ranked singles players. Senior Bryan Koniecko tops the list for Ohio State in the rankings, holding the No. 4 position in the Campbell-ITA rankings. Also listed for Ohio State are No. 22 Steven Moneke, No. 23 Justin Kronauge, No. 63 Balazs Novak and No. 82 Shuhei Uzawa.
In doubles the Buckeyes list two nationally-ranked teams. The 29th ranked duo of Moneke and Novak hold the highest spot for Ohio State and Moneke is also part of the No. 37 team with partner Koniecko.
No. 14 LSU will square off against No. 3 Ohio State in an 11 a.m. match on the Buckeyes’ home courts at the Stickney Tennis Center.