No. 17 LSU Faces No. 5 TCU in ITA National Indoor Team Championships Opener
BATON ROUGE, La – The No. 17 LSU men’s tennis team is set to begin its ITA National Indoor Team Championship campaign against No. 5 TCU on Friday, Feb. 13, at 9:00 a.m. CT at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
In their first National Indoor Championship appearance since 2006, the Tigers earned the No. 7 seed. TCU, the 2022 and 2023 champions, will take the No. 2 seed as they enter their eighth straight tournament, dating back to 2019.
After toppling Rice 5-2 and Tulane 7-0 in their last two showings, LSU enters Championship weekend with a 7-0 mark – the best to open a season since 2021. Their rapid ascension to No. 17 in the team rankings can be credited to their three ranked wins this season, two of which came at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Tigers took down No. 16 Arizona on their home courts, 4-3, then defeated No. 22 Pepperdine, 4-2, the next day. Additionally, three Tigers appear in the season’s first set of rankings: No. 110 Erik Arutiunian, No. 123 Andrej Loncarevic, and the doubles duo of No. 81 Arutiunian/Matias Ponce de Leon.
TCU currently holds a 7-1 record, suffering its only loss to No. 1 Virginia in its second match of the season. For the Horned Frogs, four of their athletes landed in the latest ITA singles rankings. No. 5 Duncan Chan headlines their squad, followed by No. 49 Cosme Rolland de Ravel, No. 61 Julian Alonso Vivanco, and No. 105 Maximus Dassault. Ravel found his way high up the doubles rankings as well, with partner Albert Pedrico Kravtsov at No. 9, as did he with Chan at No. 22. Their head coach, David Roditi, owns a 305-107 career record in his 15 seasons with the program. Under his leadership, TCU has made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, captured the 2024 NCAA Championship, won three Big 12 Tournament titles, and Roditi has earned Big 12 Coach of the Year honors six times.
LSU has six wins over TCU all-time; their last meeting came in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, where TCU downed LSU in the second round, 4-0. A rematch ensues in the ITA Indoor Championships ten years later, with the Tigers seeking to improve their winning streak to eight, the longest since 2023.
LSU enters the weekend riding momentum form a dominant 7-0 sweep of Tulane on Feb 3. Freshman Olaf Pieczkowski clinched the match for the Tigers with his first collegiate singles win, taking down junior Daniel Phillips, 6-4, 6-1.
The pairing of Pieczkowski and Enzo Kohlmann made their court two debut following consecutive appearances at the third spot, remaining unbeaten with a 6-1 victory. Kohlmann reached a three-match streak in singles, returning to the No. 2 singles court where he began the season, winning 6-3, 6-4.
In his most recent outing, Arutiunian picked up his fifth win of the season to improve his singles record to 5-1, while also securing his sixth consecutive doubles victory alongside Ponce de Leon to remain perfect on the season. Meanwhile, Ponce de Leon notched three wins in a row, adding to his five total on the season.
Rudy Ceccon and Ponce de Leon got their first action together on the No. 3 court, ultimately clinching the doubles point for the Tigers with a 6-4 score. Ceccon stayed in the lineup at the No. 6 spot and carried his momentum into the match, continuing his flawless season with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tulane’s Andres Delgadillo.
Loncarevic earned his way back into the win column, posting a 6-2, 7-5 win over Alec Gaudin from Tulane. He and partner Sasa Markovic have held down the doubles top court in every match so far this season, registering a 3-1 mark. Likewise, Markovic has battled on courts five and six, recording six wins this season.
The LSU-TCU match opens the weekend’s slate, where the winner will face the victor of Texas-Texas A&M at noon on Saturday, Feb. 14. The semifinal round will take place on Monday, Feb. 16, followed by the championship match on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at SMU’s Altec Tennis Complex. All of the action can be followed through the live video at https://lsul.su/4rkdRSf and live results at https://lsul.su/4tLOScn.
For the latest updates, follow @LSUTennis on Instagram, Facebook, and X.