BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team learned Wednesday that it will face 41st-ranked Minnesota on May 13 in the NCAA Regional hosted by the University of Miami.
“We’re happy to travel to Miami,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “The climate is pretty similar to what we’re used to playing in and most of the kids have played there before in junior tournaments.”
The Tigers (15-9, 7-4 SEC) are making their 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and have received the No. 2 seed in the Miami regional. The Gophers received the regional’s third seed. Host Miami was awarded the No. 1 seed and will face fourth-seeded Manhattan University.
Minnesota (13-12, 7-3 Big 10) comes into the match off of a tough 4-3 loss to Penn State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. The Gophers have picked up several big wins in 2005, including a victory over No. 13 Texas A&M.
LSU will look to shake off its current three match-losing streak against the Gophers. To do so the Tigers will need to continue their superb doubles play. LSU has lost the doubles point in only four of its 23 matches and boasts two ranked doubles teams.
In singles play, the Gophers’ 59th-ranked D.J. Gertz should provide a challenge for LSU’s No. 20-ranked Ken Skupski.
“Minnesota has had some big wins this year and we know they’re a strong team,” said
Brown. “They’re in the NCAA Tournament for a reason and we’re going to have to play a complete match if we want to advance.”
The winner of the match between LSU and Minnesota will face the winner of the contest between Miami and Manhattan in the regional final on Sunday, May 14.