AUBURN, Ala. — The eighth-seeded LSU men’s tennis team faces ninth-seed opponent South Carolina in the first round of Southeastern Conference Tournament competition scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CDT on Thursday.
LSU (9-10, 4-7 SEC) defeated South Carolina during the regular season by a 5-1 mark in Columbia, S.C., giving the team its biggest win of the season by defeating the then-17th-ranked Gamecocks.
“We hope to continue our recent form and put together some complete matches,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “We have had some solid practices and we hope to get off to a good start in the SEC Tournament to start the postseason.”
Thirtieth-ranked LSU enters the SEC Tournament led by senior Michael Venus and freshman Neal Skupski in the rankings.
Venus owns an 11-6 record on the season including an overall season record of 16-7 against nationally-ranked opponents. Although currently at No. 6, at his peak position, the 6-3 Orlando, Fla. native posted at No. 2 in the nation.
Tying Venus for a team-best 11 wins is Skupski. The 6-1 freshman received the first SEC Freshman of the Week honor of the season, and in his first year with the Tigers, played as highly as the No.2 court. He owns an 11-7 record and posts with Venus to comprise a top-three tandem.
Venus and Skupski debuted at No. 9 in the Campbell/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings on Feb. 19 and remained a solid presence in the doubles rankings throughout the season. Currently, the duo posts as the third-ranked team in the nation with an impressive 11-7 record and is on a three-match win streak.
South Carolina completed its regular season with a 15-9 dual record, posting 3-8 against conference competition. After South Carolina dropped the first match in its season to top-5 team Georgia, the Gamecocks rolled to a nine-match win streak. SEC opponent Tennessee snapped the streak on March 13 when the Vols posted a 4-1 mark over the Gamecocks.
South Carolina is currently ranked No. 28 in the Campbell/ITA rankings, but saw the peak position of No. 15 during the season.
Diego Cubas leads the Gamecocks in the rankings, posting at No. 51 in the most recent ITA polls with a 9-12 record. Cubas also combines with Ivan Machado to form South Carolina’s top duo. The pair owns a 13-8 record and posts at No. 23 in the nation.
LSU owns a 22-7 advantage over South Carolina in the all-time series record and this will be the third time the two teams have met at the conference tournament.
LSU posted a victory in the past two meetings between the teams at the SEC Tournament. In 1994, LSU defeated South Carolina in the first round by a 4-2 mark. In 1999, the two teams met in the semifinals of the tournament. LSU cruised to a 4-1 mark over South Carolina en route to the tournament title.