BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s tennis team will face its toughest test of the season when they square-off against the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes this Saturday at 4 p.m. CST in Columbus, Ohio, at Ohio State’s Varsity Indoor Courts.
The 33rd-ranked Tigers (3-2) are riding a three-match win streak, but extending it to four will be a tough challenge as the Buckeyes (7-0) enter the match on a 117 home match win streak, which dates back to the 2002-03 season. The streak is the longest home streak in Big Ten Conference history.
“This is a good test coming off some good wins,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “This team is one of the best so we will be truly tested. That’s why we schedule these matches is to test ourselves against the best. “
LSU hits the road after a successful three-match home stand. The Tigers downed No. 26 Rice, 5-2, last Sunday, followed by a pair of dominant wins over UL-Lafayette and UNO on Tuesday.
Ohio State is undefeated on the season and are no strangers to SEC competition. The Buckeyes took down No. 18 Ole Miss, 6-1, on Feb. 4 and cruised past eleventh-ranked Georgia, 6-1, on Feb. 6.
A number of ranked players will be on the courts this weekend for both teams. The No. 27 Tiger tandem of Neal Skupski and Sebastian Carlsson hold a four-match doubles win streak, and will likely face-off against the sixth-ranked Buckeye’s pair of Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola.
Five Buckeyes are polled in the latest ITA singles rankings, including three in the Top 50. Ohio State’s Blaz Rola is highest at No. 7, Matt Allare ranks No. 34 and Devin McCarthy comes in at No. 46.
For the Tigers, junior Mark Bowtell holds a No. 102 singles ranking.
Ohio State holds a one game edge over LSU with a 6-5 all-time record. The teams met last year in Baton Rouge, and the Scarlet and Gray notched a 4-2 win over the Tigers.
Live stats for the match will be available on www.OhioStateBuckeyes.com.