No. 7 LSU Hits the Road to Battle No. 23 Auburn, No. 17 Vanderbilt
BATON ROUGE, La – The No. 7 LSU men’s tennis team – currently 20-4 on the season and 6-3 in SEC play – will hit the road to face No. 23 Auburn on Friday, March 27, at 3:00 p.m. CT at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Tigers will then visit No. 17 Vanderbilt on Sunday, March 29, at 1:00 p.m. CT at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center.
Live stats will be provided for Friday’s match against Auburn through https://lsul.su/3Q10mcg, and live video through https://lsul.su/41AdKqh. For Sunday’s action, results for Vanderbilt can be followed through https://lsul.su/3PIVYyw, and live video through https://lsul.su/4m1k3Ni.
“I really like how the guys responded this week in practice after a disappointing match last Sunday,” said head coach Danny Bryan. “This road trip will be challenging, but I believe our guys have the right mindset and we’re excited to play.”
LSU split its SEC matchups last week, rolling past Arkansas 6-1 before suffering a difficult 6-1 loss versus No. 6 Mississippi State. Going 20-4 overall with a 6-3 mark in conference play, the Tigers hit the 20-win milestone for the first time since 2005, helping them remain at No. 7 in the latest ITA rankings. LSU’s performance away from home this season has been exceptional, carrying a 4-1 record into this weekend’s matches while landing in the third spot in the SEC standings. The ranked duo representing the purple and gold with their electrifying play on court two is the freshman-senior pair of No. 42 Erik Arutiunian and Matias Ponce de Leon. As for singles, No. 24 Arutiunian highlights the lineup primarily at the second spot, followed by fellow freshman No. 29 Olaf Pieczkowski, who has taken on the top court in every appearance this season.
LSU enters its matchup with Auburn leading the all-time series 39-19. The purple and gold last got the best of them in the third round of the 2024 SEC Tournament, seeking to get back in the win column after getting downed at home last year, 4-3. Auburn enters the all-Tigers home bout riding a three-match losing streak and a 14-5 season mark, going an even 4-4 in conference play. Furthermore, they carry a near-perfect 10-1 record on their home courts. Their lone pairing featured in the ITA doubles rankings is six-foot-three English siblings, No. 63 Billy Blaydes and Freddy Blaydes. In singles, two players represent the best for the Auburn Tigers: No. 40 Amirkhamza Nasridinov and No. 76 B. Blaydes. Head Coach Bobby Reynolds, at Auburn, has posted a 126-122 overall record since taking over in 2016. He has led the Tigers to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including back-to-back second-round runs. Under his leadership, the Tigers have produced multiple All-SEC selections and NCAA qualifiers, most recently highlighted by their 20-11 record in 2025. A former SEC Player of the Year at Vanderbilt and longtime professional, Reynolds brings SEC experience to the program.
LSU has a 52-25-1 record over Vanderbilt all-time, looking to snap a two-match losing streak to log their first win since 2023. The Commodores enter with a win in their last match, going 14-7 and 4-5 in SEC play with a convincing 9-3 mark at home this season. The lone representatives for Vanderbilt in the ITA doubles rankings are No. 29 Nathan Cox and Hoyoung Roh. Additionally, two players headline their lineup for singles: No. 70 Roh and No. 111 Pablo Martinez Gomez. Scott Brown, a former three-time All-SEC standout at Vanderbilt, returned to his alma mater as head coach in 2023 after his role as assistant coach at Virginia during their back-to-back NCAA championship runs. In his first season, he guided the Commodores to an NCAA Tournament appearance while coaching SEC Freshman of the Year Danil Panarin to the NCAA Singles Championships. Now leading the program he once starred for, Brown has helped produce multiple All-Americans and national title teams.
Pieczkowski owns SEC Player of the Week awards for his standout showing in the second week of conference play, where he captured his signature win over No. 4 Sebastian Gorzny. Last week, he played hard-fought matches in both doubles and singles against Mississippi State, nearly making a comeback at the third spot alongside Enzo Kohlmann, where they ultimately were downed, 6-3. The pair holds a 5-2 record at that spot and a 6-3 record overall, while logging three conference wins. In singles, Pieczkowski made his debut as No. 29 in the nation in a tough third-set super-tiebreak loss to No. 35 Benito Sanchez. His record moved to 7-5 – all matches on court one – and has notched four wins over both conference opponents and ranked opponents.
Two-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner Arutiunian split his singles matchups last week. He opened with a dominant showing against Arkansas’ No. 18 Jakub Vrba, where he commanded himself, 6-4, 6-0, to earn the highest-ranked win of his collegiate career. On Sunday, he squared off with No. 6 Petar Jovanovic from Mississippi State in a close battle that ended with his ten-match win streak being snapped. The freshman has tallied the most wins on the team, carrying a 15-3 record with a 6-1 conference mark across courts one and two. Furthermore, he has six wins over nationally ranked opponents – the most on the team. Not only is he dominating in singles, but in doubles with partner Ponce de Leon, they earned their first ranked win against Arkansas’ No. 64 Vrba and Connor Smillie with a powerful 6-1 scoreline. The duo moves to 14-4 this campaign with a 6-3 SEC mark, primarily taking on the second spot.
While making most of his appearances at the sixth spot, Ponce de Leon moved up to court five against Arkansas, cruising past Dmitry Kopilevich 6-2, 6-4. On Sunday, he lost a nail-biter in a third-set tiebreak after mounting a comeback from down a set. Primarily on court six since conference play has begun, the senior is 13-7 with three SEC wins and has continued to provide the necessary depth the roster was needing.
Andrej Loncarevic made an impressive outing last week as the only Tiger to win both his singles matches. He kicked it off with a court two victory over Lukas Palovic from Arkansas, 6-3, 6-2, following it up with his second ranked win of the season against Mississippi State’s No. 68 Niccolo Baroni in a three-set comeback, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. His 12-5 record and 5-3 mark in SEC play speak to the fight he has displayed on the middle courts thus far. Additionally, earlier that day in doubles alongside Sasa Markovic, the pair comfortably took down their highest-ranked opponents of the season, No. 4 Jovanovic and Benito Martinez, 6-2. The sophomore duo is 10-3 with a 4-2 conference mark, making every showing at the top spot, as well as notching three ranked wins.
Primarily on court five, Markovic pulled out a win over Gabriel Elicha Navas on Friday night against Arkansas. After taking the opening set comfortably, he closed out the match to extend the Tigers’ lead with a 6-3, 7-5 win. Although he was downed by No. 123 Raphael Vaksmann on Sunday, he holds a 14-5 season mark, posting 4 conference wins with consistency and grit at the bottom end of the lineup.
Alessio Vasquez earned a straight-set win over Arkansas’ Ben Weintraub, defeating him 6-3, 7-5. His Sunday was wrapped with a difficult three-set loss to Mississippi State’s No. 62 Mario Serrano. Vasquez’s leadership and solid play continue to provide strength primarily at the fourth spot, advancing his season mark to 7-3, 4-3 in the SEC.
For the latest updates, follow @LSUTennis on Instagram, Facebook, and X.