BATON ROUGE, La – The No. 5 LSU men’s tennis team – now 9-1 on the campaign – is set to open conference play against Georgia on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 12:00 p.m. CT at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. They will then travel to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama on Monday, Feb. 23, at 1:00 p.m. CT.
Saturday’s Georgia match can be followed through live video and streaming at https://lsul.su/4kWrOn1.
Monday’s Alabama match can be followed through live video at https://lsul.su/4kS8CXI and live results at https://lsul.su/4c6PkLJ.
“It’s always exciting to start SEC play,” said head coach Danny Bryan ahead of Saturday’s matchup. “Every year, the SEC is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, conferences in the country. I feel like we’ve gotten tested, and we are well prepared. After some tough matches in the past couple of months, tomorrow will be no different against a great Georgia team with a great home crowd. We’re looking forward to kicking off the SEC season right.”
Following an impressive showing in last weekend’s ITA National Indoor Team Championships, LSU climbed to No. 5, marking its highest position since reaching No. 1 in 2000. After suffering their first loss of the season against then No. 5 TCU in the opening round, the Tigers achieved back-to-back top 10 wins over then No. 8 Texas A&M 4-3, then swept No. 9 UCF 4-0, the first time they have done so since 2006. Their remarkable recovery not only elevated the team to 9-1, but three Tigers rose in the ranks: No. 53 Erik Arutiunian, No. 102 Andrej Loncarevic, and the doubles pairing of No. 63 Arutiunian and Matias Ponce de Leon.
LSU has 18 all-time wins over Georgia, getting downed at home last season, 4-0. The Fighting Tigers head to Athens looking for their first win since 1999. Georgia enters the matchup with a 7-1 record, suffering its only loss to then No. 5 TCU on the road during ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Bulldogs feature four players in the latest ITA singles rankings. No. 30 William Jansen tops their squad, followed by No. 42 Arda Azkara, No. 60 Santiago Giamichelle, and No. 77 Gabriele Vulpitta. On the doubles side, their lone ranked duo is No. 64 Azkara and Giamichelle.
At the helm, head coach Jamie Hunt is in year two of his tenure, but is no stranger to Georgia tennis. During his time as a player, he was a part of the 2007 and 2008 NCAA National Championship teams. He returned to Athens in 2017 as the associate head coach. Most notably in his seven years, Hunt helped the Bulldogs capture the 2023 SEC Championship. Posting a 16-12 record in his first season, 13-2 on the home courts, Hunt and the Bulldogs look forward to hosting the Tigers in their conference opener.
LSU earned its only conference win last season over Alabama in a 4-0 sweep. Alabama, 3-5, is coming off its most recent loss to Memphis, 4-0. They will host LSU in its second conference match of the season after opening against No. 3 Texas on Saturday, Feb. 21. One singles player and one doubles pair headline the Crimson Tide: No. 90 Matic Kriznik and the No. 18 duo of Jacob Olar and Andrii Zimhokh.
Head coach George Husack has 170 wins to his name, currently in his 15th season leading the program. Under his leadership, Alabama has made six NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by a historic Round of 16 run in 2018. He coached Filip Planinsek to the program’s first-ever NCAA singles title in 2024, marking the first individual national championship in Alabama men’s tennis history. His tenure has also produced 10 All-American honors and 27 SEC accolades. After handing LSU their lone conference win last season, Husack looks to prevent making it two in a row.
In their latest action, freshman Olaf Pieczkowski clinched for the Tigers to wrap up the 4-0 sweep against UCF, logging the first ranked win of his collegiate career over then No. 64 Yassine Dlimi, 6-3, 6-3. He has two wins on the top singles court this season, as well as posting a 3-1 doubles mark. Fellow freshman No. 53 Arutiunian fell to then No. 5 Duncan Chan in the tournament opener, but responded with the match clinch over Texas A&M. He then logged his second ranked win of the season in a straight-sets victory against UCF’s then No. 108 Wissam Abderrahman, 6-3, 6-4. With a 7-2 record, he continues to dominate the top two courts.
The pairing of Arutiunian and Ponce de Leon has experienced much success this season. Posting a 7-1 mark – undefeated on court two – the freshman-senior duo has risen to No. 63 in the ITA rankings. LSU has earned the doubles point in all but two matches this season, largely due to this tandem’s commanding performance. Ponce de Leon has prospered on the singles side, too. Winning in straight sets in both matches last weekend, he improved his winning streak to a team best of five, holding down court four.
Sasa Markovic, one point away from winning all three singles matches in the last outing, also went 2-1 in doubles with three different partners. He logged the only win against TCU in straight sets, and the next day, he toppled Texas A&M’s Markus Molder in a comeback victory. He also paired up with Rudy Ceccon at the third spot that day to improve his individual doubles record to 4-2, before notching another one with Loncarevic at their normal court one position in their final match. While that was Loncarevic’s only appearance last weekend, he extended to a 4-1 doubles standing while remaining at 5-2 in singles to go with his No. 102 rank.
Ceccon and Enzo Kohlmann have meshed well together this season at the third spot, getting their second win together in the UCF match. Ceccon was the first of the three consecutive wins that fueled the comeback against Texas A&M, pushing to a perfect 5-0 at the sixth spot. Kohlmann enters conference play with five wins in both singles and doubles, spending most of his time on the third court in each.
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