BATON ROUGE- The LSU men’s tennis team will open the 2019 season playing host in the Donni Leaycraft Scramble Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. CT in the indoor courts at the LSU Tennis Complex.
The first match of the day is slated for 8 a.m. CT between UAB and Texas-Rio Grande Valley. After the conclusion of the first match, LSU will face Alabama State.
There will be a second round of matches that begin at 2 p.m. CT. The winners of the first two matches will face each other, and the losers of the morning matches will square off against each other.
LSU will honor former men’s tennis great Donni Leaycraft at the conclusion of doubles play in the second round of matches.
Admission to all matches in the LSU Tennis Complex is free. Fans can follow the match at www.LSUstats.com and on Twitter @LSUtennis. The match also can be streamed online at http://www.LSUsports.net/tennisvideo.
Thoughts from the Co-Head Coach Chris Brandi
“It will be a fun way to start the season by honoring a Tiger great like Donni Leaycraft, an NCAA champion,” co-head coach Chris Brandi said. “The guys are ready to play two tough matches to kick off the year.”
The Matchup
LSU is will meet Alabama State for the first time in program history. The Tigers have a 1-0 record against UAB and have never played a match in school history against Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
Tiger Tidbits
LSU had two players compile six wins during the fall season—junior Rafael Wagner and freshman Nick Watson.
Watson, a Baton Rouge native, won the singles title in Flight D of the Longhorn Invitational to close the fall season. Wagner was the Tigers’ leader in wins during the 2018 season with 19.
Along with Wagner, who was named to the All-Louisiana First Team for his efforts during the 2018 season, the Tigers return senior Shane Monroe who was second team All-SEC and the Louisiana Newcomer of the Year. Nikola Samardzic and Agie Moreno round out the LSU returners.
LSU has six newcomers in sophomore Malik Bhatnagar, freshman Boris Kozlov, freshman Daniel Moreno, junior Ruy Teixeira, sophomore Joey Thomas and Watson.
Notes on the Opponents
Alabama State is coming off of a 2018 campaign where the Hornets were the SWAC champions after finishing the season 12-9 overall and 6-0 in conference play. The Hornets return the entire lineup from last season, which had five players named All-Conference.
UAB had a 12-10 overall record in the 2018 season and returns five members of the 2018 squad.
Texas-Rio Grande Valley compiled a record of 11-13 overall and has two senior members on its roster.
Social Center
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.