BATON ROUGE, La – Returning to their season-best in the latest ITA Rankings, No. 5 LSU – currently 23-5 on the season and 9-4 in SEC play – will host the regular season finale against No. 22 Kentucky on Friday, April 10, at 5:30 p.m. CT at the LSU Tennis Complex. The Tigers will honor Senior Day, celebrating Matias Ponce de Leon as he concludes his collegiate tennis career.
Live stats will be provided for Friday’s match against Kentucky through https://lsul.su/4mjKu0F, and live video through https://lsul.su/4sWekuE.
LSU emerged victorious in both matches last week, opening with a 4-1 rally against then No. 13 South Carolina, followed by a commanding 4-2 result over then No. 21 Florida. As a result of extending their season win mark to 23, the Tigers surpassed their highest win total since the 1998 SEC Championship-winning team.
LSU is currently No. 5 in the nation, riding a three-match win streak with a dominant 11-2 home record. The Tigers aim to extend their 9-4 conference record against the Wildcats in the final match of the regular season. Coming in at No. 4 in the SEC, LSU sits behind only three schools: Texas, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M. Now, with individual rankings updating every week, the duo representing LSU is No. 13 Sasa Markovic and Andrej Loncarevic, continuing to climb to their highest this season. In singles, making a season-high appearance is No. 22 Erik Arutiunian, who primarily highlights the second spot. Following him is fellow freshman, No. 38 Olaf Pieczkowski, who has taken the top court in every appearance this season. Finally, after clinching both matches last week for the Tigers, No. 120 Loncarevic rounds out the top players bearing the purple and gold.
LSU enters its matchup with Kentucky leading the all-time series 32-26. The Tigers are looking to capture their first win over the Wildcats since 2019. Kentucky enters the match winning in their last outing, which extended their season mark to 15-10 while going 5-7 in SEC play. Moreover, they enter Baton Rouge with a 2-3 record on the road. Two doubles pairings are featured for the Wildcats in the latest edition of the ITA rankings: No. 16 Eli Stephenson and Jack Loutit, and No. 89 Martin Breysach and Charlelie Cosnet. In singles, the four representatives who highlight the lineup for Kentucky are No. 20 Stephenson, No. 78 Loutit, No. 80 Nicolas Aseneault, and No. 97 Cosnet. At the helm for the Wildcats is head coach Cedric Kauffmann, who has led the Wildcats to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and the program’s first-ever NCAA Championship match in 2022. His teams had back-to-back No. 5 finishes in 2023 and 2024, earning him SEC Coach of the Year honors in 2024. In 2023-24, Kauffmann guided Kentucky to a dominant 27-3 record, an undefeated SEC regular season title, and a second straight SEC Tournament championship, while reaching the NCAA quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. A former All-American at Kentucky himself, he has produced numerous All-Americans and elevated the program.
In the second week of conference play, Pieczkowski was awarded SEC Player of the Week honors thanks to his signature comeback victory over then No. 4 Sebastian Gorzny in LSU’s statement 4-3 win over then No. 2 Texas. In his only singles appearance last weekend, Pieczkowski took on the top court in a ranked battle that went unfinished while he was leading in the third set. His season mark stands at 7-7, including four wins over ranked opponents in addition to four SEC takedowns. Beyond that, partnering up with Enzo Kohlmann at the third doubles spot, the duo split their matchups last week. They began with a convincing 6-2 takedown against South Carolina, before entering Gainesville and getting downed, 6-4. The pair moved to a 7-3 record on court three and an 8-4 record overall, improving their conference record to 5-3.
Kohlmann made a splash in his return to the singles lineup last week, opening with an overwhelming 6-3, 6-0 victory in Columbia over Charlie Swaine at the fifth spot. He built on his momentum in the match against Florida, sliding down to court six where he posted a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kevin Edengren. Kohlmann captured his first two SEC wins of the season last time out, pushing his streak to two and his win total to nine.
Two-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner Arutiunian has continued to shine during his first-year campaign. After taking home the honors in ITA Kickoff Weekend, which helped LSU advance to the ITA National Indoor Team Championships for the first time in 20 years, he followed it up with strong outings versus Oklahoma and then-No. 11 Texas A&M. Arutiunian displayed another impressive performance in last week’s matches, defeating South Carolina’s No. 56 Sean Daryabeigi 6-3, 6-4, before moving up to the top court against Florida to post a straight-sets victory over No. 96 Adhithya Ganesan, 6-2, 6-2. With an 18-4 record and 9-2 conference mark, the Belarus native has tallied the most wins on the team in both categories.
Ponce de Leon, who will be recognized at Friday’s match for Senior Day, has defended court two with Arutiunian the entire season. Against Florida, they delivered another doubles point clinch against Pablo Perez Ramos and Ganesan, downing them 6-4. Together, their record moved to 15-6, logging seven wins in SEC play as well as notching one ranked win on the season. In singles, he took down South Carolina’s Atakan Karahan in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, before making another appearance on court four, where his thrilling match against No. 60 Henry Jefferson went unfinished in the third set. The Spaniard moves into the weekend with a 16-7 mark on the season, tallying six conference wins while riding a three-match win streak.
Not much more can be said about Loncarevic and his fight, clinching both matches for LSU last week. In Columbia, he secured the match on court three, defeating Max Stenzer in a three-set marathon, 6-7(5), 6-0, 7-5. Returning on Saturday and moving up to the second spot, the French native downed Lorenzo Claverie, 6-3, 6-4. These tremendous efforts extended his win streak to five – the highest on the team – as well as pushing his record to 15-5 with an 8-3 conference mark and capturing two ranked wins this season. In doubles, he and Markovic have made every appearance together on the top court with a 12-5 total, standing at 6-4 in SEC play. Logging their fifth ranked win over Florida’s No. 8 Tanapatt Nirundorn and Jefferson, 6-4, the duo once again makes a jump in the rankings to No. 13 in the nation while providing firepower and consistency all season. Markovic also carries a 14-6 season mark with four conference wins in singles.
On Saturday versus Florida, No. 81 Jeremy Jin outlasted Alessio Vasquez. Primarily at the fourth spot this season, the junior has continued to display reliability and leadership, greatly enhancing the lineup upon his return from injury at the start of SEC play. Since then, he has improved to 7-5, capturing four conference wins and a ranked victory.
On Thursday, April 9, the league office announced the 2026 SEC Men’s Tennis Community Service Team. Junior Rudy Ceccon was recognized on the team for his contributions to the LSU and Baton Rouge community. After making his way back into the lineup and securing a win in his previous outing, Ceccon slid up to the sixth court against South Carolina in a match that went unfinished. His season mark stands at 7-2 – a perfect 6-0 on court six – while riding a two-match win streak.
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