Tigers Begin Road Conference Slate at LSU, Arkansas
Thursday, 03/07/2013
AUBURN - Auburn's men's tennis team will hit the road this weekend for a pair of Southeastern Conference matches at LSU on Friday and at Arkansas on Sunday.
Friday's match at LSU is set for a 3 p.m. start at W.T. "Dub" Robinson Stadium in Baton Rouge, and the Tigers' tilt with the Razorbacks begins at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Billingsley Tennis Center.
The 37th-ranked Tigers (8-4, 0-2 SEC) look to get back on track after dropping a pair of 4-3 heartbreakers on the opening weekend of league play to then-No. 10 Mississippi State and No. 13 LSU. Auburn lost two of three doubles contests in both matches - the first time this season for Auburn to not claim the doubles point - which proved to be the difference in both team matches.
Sophomore Lukas Ollert was the most consistent Tiger last weekend, winning both of his singles matches and posting a 1-1 record in doubles along with freshman Joseph Van Dooren. Ollert also earned one of the highest-ranked wins of his career when he defeated No. 55 William Kallberg of Ole Miss in a three-set battle Sunday.
In doubles, the nation's top-ranked team of senior Andreas Mies and junior Daniel Cochrane look to get back on track after dropping their last two matches to teams also ranked in the nation's top 25. Mies and Cochrane boast a 9-3 record in dual match play this year but are looking for their first win in conference play.
LSU (5-4, 0-2 SEC), ranked No. 53 in this week's ITA release, also seeks its first SEC win after dropping matches to Vanderbilt and Kentucky last week on the road. Chris Simpson leads the Tigers from the No. 2 singles position, where he has a 4-2 record, and Tam Trinh and Roger Anderson are 3-1 at the No. 4 and 6 spots, respectively.
Arkansas (11-5, 0-2 SEC) also fell to Kentucky and Vanderbilt last week but rose to No. 42 in the national rankings. Gregoire Lehmann is ranked No. 125 in the ITA singles release and has a 5-7 record at the No. 1 spot in dual match play this year. Victor Hoang has a 10-2 overall record in dual match play, competing at five different positions, and Michael Nott is 8-2 playing at the bottom three spots in the lineup.
Live stats for Friday's match will be available at LSUSports.net, and Sunday's match can be followed via ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
