BATON ROUGE – The No. 35 LSU men’s tennis team will face its third Top 5 team of the season when the Tigers host No. 2 Tennessee on Saturday at 1 p.m. CDT at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
The Tigers (7-9, 2-3 SEC) notched a 4-3 win over No. 41 Nebraska at home on Tuesday, and are 6-2 at the “Dub” this season. The SEC-East leading Volunteers enter the match with a 15-2 mark overall and are one of only two undefeated teams left in the SEC as they, along with Georgia, enter the match at 5-0 in conference competition.
“I feel this is the most prepared we’ve been for a match from both a tennis standpoint and a confidence standpoint to challenge of team of this caliber,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “We have to stay with them on every court to give ourselves a chance at the end to win the match. They’re a very strong and experienced team and we are hoping for a lot of support and enthusiasm from the home crowd to help push us along.”
Tennessee has earned non-conference victories over high-caliber opponents such as No. 9 Duke twice, No. 10 Illinois and No. 13 UCLA. The Volunteers have only dropped two matches so far this season, a 4-0 loss to No. 1 Virginia in February at the ITA Team Indoor Championships and a 4-3 road loss to No. 16 Baylor on March 15.
The Orange and White are led in the ranking by No. 3 Rhyne Williams and No. 12 John-Patrick Smith. Smith holds a team-best 14-2 dual record, with a 7-0 mark on Court 1 and 7-2 on Court 2, while Williams enters the match with a 12-4 record on the top two courts.
In doubles, Smith pairs up with Boris Conick to make the No. 1 doubles team in the nation, and the top-ranked duo is an impressive 12-0 this season on Court 1. Williams joins with Tennys Sandgren to comprise the No. 38 pair in the country for the Volunteers.
The Tigers are led by the 12th-ranked tandem of senior Sebastian Carlsson and junior Neal Skupski. The duo is 12-3 this season at the top doubles and has posted victories over six ranked foes, including the former No. 1 Texas A&M pair of Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo.
Skupski is the lone Tiger ranked in the single poll as he checks in at No. 91.
Fans unable to attend the match can view the live stats at www.LSUSports.net/livestats.
For up-to-date information and behind the scenes access to the Tigers, fans can follow the LSU men’s team on Twitter @lsutennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis.