BATON ROUGE — LSU duo Michael Venus and Neal Skupski moved up two spots to No. 6 in the latest polls released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday.
The LSU tandem has won their last two matches against nationally-ranked opponents, pushing their overall record to 8-5 overall against nationally-ranked doubles teams.
Against South Carolina, Venus and Skupski notched a victory on the road over then-28th-ranked Diego Cubas and Ivan Machado, 8-6.
When the Tigers returned to Baton Rogue, Venus and Skupski garnered their biggest win of the season as they clinched the doubles point for LSU by defeating the former second-ranked doubles team in the nation in Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge, 8-4. The wins pushed the Tiger tandem’s record to 10-7 in the dual season.
In addition to his ranking in doubles, Venus also remained among the nation’s top 10 singles players. The 6-3 senior slid one spot to No. 7 in the ITA polls and owns an 11-6 dual season record as well as a 16-7 overall record against nationally-ranked players.
After splitting a weekend of Southeastern Conference competition against formerly second-ranked Ole Miss and 69th-ranked Mississippi State, the LSU men’s tennis team moved up one spot from No. 32 to No. 31.
LSU took the doubles point against Ole Miss for the early lead, but fell short in singles, notching only one victory, for the Rebels to take the match, 5-2. Inclement weather forced the match with Mississippi State to span two days, but in the end, the Tigers emerged victorious with a 4-2 victory over the Bulldogs.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State remained in the rankings as well as the 10 other league teams, making the SEC a solid presence in the Campbell/ITA Rankings. Four teams are in the top 10 with Ole Miss leading the way at No. 3. Following Ole Miss is Georgia at No. 4, Tennessee at No. 6 and Florida at No. 10.
LSU closes out its home season on Saturday against 47th-ranked Arkansas. The SEC match is slated for noon at W.T. Robinson Stadium.
Men’s National Team Rankings
Administered by the ITA
NCAA Division I Tennis
April 14, 2009
Rank School
1 Virginia
2 Ohio State
3 Mississippi
4 Georgia
5 Baylor
6 Tennessee
7 Southern California
8 Stanford
9 UCLA
10 Florida
11 Illinois
12 Kentucky
13 Texas A&M
14 Texas
15 Alabama
16 Florida State
17 Pepperdine
18 Auburn
19 Boise State
20 Wake Forest
21 Washington
22 Arizona
23 Louisville
24 Oklahoma State
25 Miami (Florida)
26 Duke
27 Virginia Tech
28 Notre Dame
29 South Carolina
30 Wisconsin
31 LSU
32 Tulsa
33 Minnesota
34 Texas Tech
35 North Carolina
Tennis Duo Ranked No. 6 Nationally