No. 7 LSU Prepares to Host Arkansas, No. 6 Mississippi State
BATON ROUGE, La – The No. 7 LSU men’s tennis team will open this week’s slate of matches at home against Arkansas on Friday, March 20, at 5:30 p.m. CT. The Tigers will return on Sunday, March 22, to face No. 6 Mississippi State at 12:00 p.m. CT at the LSU Tennis Complex.
Live stats will be provided for Friday’s match against Arkansas through https://lsul.su/4rJNbK7. For Sunday’s action, results for Mississippi State can be followed through https://lsul.su/40DkqUm. Live video is available for all matches at https://lsul.su/49uB6RK.
Attendance at all LSU matches at the LSU Tennis Complex is free. Attendees will be required to comply with the university’s clear-bag policy.
“I think the guys have had a great week of practice and are excited to get back out on the court in front of our fans. The atmosphere for our matches this past weekend was phenomenal, and we’re hoping to build on that again this weekend. It’s going to take our best to get wins against Arkansas tomorrow night and Mississippi State on Sunday.”
LSU split its SEC matchups last week, taking down Ole Miss 4-3 before suffering a hard-fought 3-4 loss to then No. 11 Texas A&M. They closed out their week with a 4-0 sweep over New Orleans. Following an impressive stretch of matches over the past two weeks, the Tigers land at No. 7 in the latest ITA rankings. Thanks to its 19-3 overall record and 5-2 mark in the SEC, LSU is currently placed second in its conference standings. Complementing their 10-1 home record, they reached a win streak as high as nine after beating Oklahoma. No. 42 Erik Arutiunian and Matias Ponce de Leon continue to climb the ITA doubles rankings, making their highest appearance together thanks to their standout play on court two. In singles, Arutiunian leads the purple and gold, cracking the top-25 for the first time in his young career by making a thirty-spot jump up to No. 24. Just behind his fellow freshman, making his first appearance in the rankings is No. 29 Olaf Pieczkowski. His significant surge can be credited to his four ranked wins this season, highlighted by a three-set thriller over Texas’s No. 4 Sebastian Gorzny when LSU defeated then No. 2 Texas, 4-3.
LSU enters its matchup with Arkansas leading the all-time series 21-11. The Tigers look to get back in the win column versus the Razorbacks after dropping their last two matchups, dating back to 2023. Arkansas comes to Baton Rouge with a 14-7 record, going 2-5 in conference play. However, they have a winning mark on the road at 5-4 this season. Two pairings highlight their squad in the doubles rankings: No. 44 Eric Padgham and Ben Weintraub, and No. 64 Connor Smillie and Jakub Vrba. The lone representative for the Razorbacks in singles is No. 18, Jakub Vrba. Jay Udwadia was named head coach of Arkansas in 2022, returning to his alma mater after successful stints at Oklahoma State, Fresno State, and Drake. In just a few seasons, he’s elevated the program with back-to-back 18+ win campaigns, along with the team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021. Arkansas also reached as high as No. 29 in the ITA rankings, showing steady improvement under his leadership. Udwadia is 51-43 overall at Arkansas through his first three seasons.
LSU has a 40-30-1 record over Mississippi State all-time, looking to snap a three-match losing streak to log their first win since 2022. The Bulldogs are 15-2 and 6-1 in SEC play – with the best in-conference record – and travel to Baton Rouge looking to extend their six-match win streak with a perfect 6-0 mark on the road this season. Representing Mississippi State in the ITA doubles rankings are No. 4 Benito Sanchez Martinez and Petar Jovanovic, and No. 47 Bryan Hernandez Cortes and Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes. Six players highlight the lineup for singles; the reigning SEC Player of the Week, No. 6 Jovanovic, headlines their squad, followed by No. 35 Sanchez Martinez, No. 62 Mario Martinez Serrano, No. 68 Niccolo Baroni, No. 97 Hernandez Cortes, and No. 123 Raphael Vaksmann. Head coach Matt Roberts has built a powerful program in the SEC, posting a 133-49 overall record and 52-23 in conference play during his tenure at Mississippi State. He has led the Bulldogs to eight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 2018 quarterfinal run while finishing in the ITA top 25 seven times. Roberts also guided Mississippi State to back-to-back SEC Tournament titles in 2018 and 2019. Individually, his players have earned major honors, highlighted by now-pro Nuno Borges winning ITA National Player of the Year in 2019, while Roberts himself was named the SEC Coach of the Year in 2018.
Fresh off SEC Player of the Week honors, Pieczkowski opened his match with Oklahoma paired up with Enzo Kohlmann once more at the third spot. They asserted themselves right out of the gate, claiming a pair of breaks in their first two opportunities to take a commanding 4-0 lead. They closed out their dominant performance with a 6-1 match win. They enter this week with a 6-2 record, going 3-1 in the SEC. Furthermore, Pieczkowski earned his fourth ranked singles win against then No. 64 Theo Papamalamis of Texas A&M. On the top court, he stormed to a quick start in each set, logging a 6-3, 6-3 straight-sets victory. The freshman got back into the win column, improving his season record to 7-4, 4-1 in conference play. As a result, he has found his top form, going from unranked in the ITA rankings to No. 29.
Arutiunian earned his second SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Wednesday. Posting a 4-1 mark across last week’s matches, he opened with a commanding 6-3, 6-1 win over then No. 108 Oscar Lacides that helped take down Oklahoma, 4-3. He followed that up on Sunday with a three-set thriller against Texas A&M’s then No. 86 Alex Frusina, 6-0, 3-6, 6-2. His record over nationally ranked opponents improved to 5-1, pushing his win streak to nine with a 14-2 season mark. Most notably, he finds himself at a career-high No. 24 in the ITA rankings. In doubles, he paired up with Matias Ponce de Leon to earn a clutch win over Oklahoma’s Alejandro Melero and Hank Trondson, pulling away in the tiebreak to win and clinch the doubles point, 7-6 (7-3). Moving up to No. 42 in the ITA rankings, the duo’s 13-3 mark has played a critical role in the Tigers’ success this season, as the team has taken the doubles point in all but four matches.
Ponce de Leon’s 6-2, 6-0 takedown over New Orleans’s Jerall Yasin was his 12th win on the season. Now making most of his appearances on court six, he has provided the necessary depth the roster needed.
Andrej Loncarevic clinched the match for the Tigers against Oklahoma, edging out Orel Kimhi 6-4, 7-5 to hit the ten-match win mark. He now has a 10-5 record on the season, going an even 3-3 in SEC play. He has made notable appearances on each of the top four courts, but primarily leads the Tigers on court three, where he has five wins so far. On the top doubles court in every match this season, he and Markovic have tallied nine wins, providing power and reliability in LSU’s doubles dominance.
Primarily on court five, Markovic pulled out an important win over Melero on Friday night. After taking the tense opening set in a tiebreak, he closed out the match to get the Tigers closer to victory with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win. He topped off his weekend with an authoritative 6-4, 6-1 takedown over Beltran Fernandez from New Orleans. He enters this week with a 13-4 singles mark, going 3-3 in the conference.
Alessio Vasquez earned an emotional win over Texas A&M’s Tiago Pires, defeating him 7-5, 6-4. He wrapped up Sunday with a quick win in the New Orleans match, taking down Jacob Rouleau-Mailly, 6-4, 6-1. His place in the lineup, primarily at the fourth spot, continues to prove key as he advances his season mark to 6-2, 3-2 in the SEC.
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