BATON ROUGE — The 21st-ranked LSU men’s tennis team is ready to face its sixth-consecutive top-25 opponent on Sunday, as the Tigers host the No. 18-ranked Florida Gators at 1 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“Florida is a really good team,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “They’ve been on a bit of roll lately with big upset wins over Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas, and we’re looking to fight our way into the conference race. This is going to be another hard-fought match for us and I think that our team has the focus that we need to get a big win.”
LSU heads into Sunday’s Southeastern Conference matchup with an overall record of 3-5 and an 0-3 mark against conference opponents. After starting the dual-match season 3-0, the Tigers have dropped five straight versus some of the nation’s top competition. LSU lost hard-fought contests against No. 2 Illinois, No. 18 Auburn, No. 22 Alabama, No. 23 South Carolina and No. 25 Texas A&M.
Florida comes to Baton Rouge after defeating Arkansas, 5-2, on Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark. The win propelled the Gators to an undefeated 3-0 record against SEC opponents and upped the team’s overall dual-match record to 8-1.
Last weekend, Florida recorded two upset victories, as the Gators topped both No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 11 Mississippi State.
In last season’s annual contest between the two teams, the Tigers upended Florida, 4-3, on the road in Gainesville, Fla. With the win, LSU earned its 23rd all-time victory in the series as the Tigers lead Florida, 23-18-1.
The 21st-ranked LSU men’s tennis team will look to end a five match losing skid on Sunday, as the Tigers host the 18th-ranked Florida Gators at 1 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.