The Texas A&M men’s tennis team will be on the road and back on the court again this weekend.
The team will travel to Baton Rouge this weekend to take on LSU, Arkansas and Mississippi State at the LSU Invitational. The tournament is a three-day event, beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday and concluding on Sunday.
The Aggies were last seen in action in their second tournament of the season, the 2020 ITA Fall Circuit held at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station. A&M sophomore Anish Sriniketh clinched his first tournament title as an Aggie by earning five straight wins. Sriniketh defeated his teammate, freshman Raphael Perot, in the finals to take the overall win.
“It’s going to be great seeing so many of our guys back on the court,” head coach Steve Denton said. “After the long break and time away from the courts, it has been refreshing to see our team back together and taking on some of the best talent the SEC has to offer.”
This weekend the Aggies will face SEC opponents for the first time this season. The last time the maroon and white faced off against LSU was last spring and resulted in a 5-2 win over the Tigers. A&M will be seeking its ninth consecutive win over LSU, as the Aggies have defeated the Tigers in their last eight meetings.
The Aggies were also victorious in their last meeting against Arkansas.
With only one senior on the team this year, the Aggies have several new faces on the court as representatives of A&M. Perot, Pierce Rollins and Kenner Taylor will compete in their first SEC matches this weekend as freshmen.
“This tournament will be an excellent opportunity to see where we’re at as a team,” Denton said.
As with other sports, A&M’s men’s tennis team will be playing a shortened schedule this season due to COVID-19 precautions. Following this weekend’s tournament, the Aggies will travel to Athens, Ga., to compete in the Georgia Invitational later this month. The final tournaments include the ITA Texas Regional in Waco and ITA Circuit held in College Station in November.