BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU men’s tennis team will open their much-anticipated spring dual season in Baton Rouge on Sunday when Nicholls State University (9 a.m. CT) and Lamar University (6 p.m.) travel to W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium to take on the Tigers in their first dual matches of the new year.
LSU’s men’s team credits much of its fall success, which included six victories over ranked opponents, to the emphasis placed on building positive momentum for a strong spring campaign. Sunday’s match against Lamar marks the first challenge for a team that has high expectations this season.
“We want to make the NCAA tournament,” said junior Harrison Kennedy. “We missed it by just that much last year but hopefully we will come back strong and represent LSU the best we can.”
The Tigers finished last season with a sour taste after narrowly missing out on postseason play. Head coach Jeff Brown‘s team is determined to get off to a quick start this season, and used last week’s competition at the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational as a reason to get back to work early after the holidays.
“The Florida Gulf Coast tournament was a great way to get the guys back early,” Brown said. “We were able to experiment a little bit with some doubles teams. We were able to get some confidence leading us into this week’s matches.”
Lamar will be coming off a match against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, while in-state opponent Nicholls will also be opening their season on Sunday. Lamar’s sophomore doubles team of Michael Feucht and Nikita Lis is ranked No. 29 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
LSU will not be sleeping on any competition as its focus remains on starting fast in pursuit of qualifying for the postseason.
“These are two quality teams that will challenge us,” Brown said. “Lamar has a good lineup and they have some wins over some significant players. Nicholls is a good program and that’s why we play them.”
Sunday also marks Brown’s first two opportunities of the season to close in on being the all-time winningest coach in LSU history. Brown needs ten victories to surpass Jerry Simmons for the distinction.
Two women’s matches will be played between the men’s matches on a busy opening Sunday at The Dub.
For up-to-date information and behind the scenes access on the Tigers, fans can follow the LSU men’s tennis team on Twitter and Instagram at @lsutennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis.