BATON ROUGE, La. – The New Orleans Privateers men's tennis team (3-1) makes the short trip to take on the LSU Tigers (5-3) at "Dub" Robinson Stadium on Friday.
New Orleans had a match scheduled last Sunday against Troy washed out because of rain. The Privateers' last out on the court was a 4-0 victory over Jackson State on Saturday, Feb. 22. This marks the first of a three-match road trip for the men's team.
The Privateers have been paced by
Rui Silva who stepped into the 1 position after
Timo Kranz was injured in the debut dual of the '14 season. Silva has not dropped a set in four singles matches, and has only dropped six games in his last two singles victories.
Last season, the Privateers fell 6-0 to LSU in Baton Rouge on Apr. 2, but this year's rotation is different except for Silva who was the only returner off of last year's Southland runner up squad. The Tigers are currently ranked 73rd in the latest ITA poll.
The Tigers' 1 position player is Chris Simpson who is ranked 109 nationally in singles. Simpson notched one of the Tigers' two points in their most recent outing, a 5-2 loss at Michigan. Simpson also combined with teammate, Boris Arias to win the doubles point in that match. The Simpson-Arias tandem is ranked 30th in the nation in doubles play.
LSU started the season with two tough losses against top 20 opponents to begin the 2014 meet. The Tigers were dealt a pair of 4-1 losses by Wake Forest and Vanderbilt.
