LSU Awaits Arkansas In SEC Tournament
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Following a week long break from action, the Arkansas men’s tennis team returns to the court on Thursday at 11 a.m. as the No. 7 seed Razorbacks face the No. 10 seed LSU Tigers in the 2017 SEC Men’s Tennis Tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee.
With a weekend sweep in its last two matches of the regular season, the Razorbacks head into postseason play winning seven of their last 10 matches, finishing 15-11 overall and 6-6 in conference play. Arkansas finished tied with Ole Miss for sixth place in the final conference standings to earn the seven seed in the SEC Tournament. It marks the second consecutive season that Arkansas has finished in the top half of the final regular season conference standings.
The Razorbacks are looking for their third ever victory in the SEC Tournament and the first since defeating Vanderbilt in 2006. Arkansas is 0-2 all-time in the conference tournament as a No. 7 seed and 0-2 against LSU.
Despite being 5-28 against LSU in program history, Arkansas has won three of the last five meetings against the Tigers, including a 4-3 victory earlier this season. The Razorbacks’ win over LSU this year was their first victory in Baton Rouge in program history.
Senior Mike Redlicki is ranked No. 10 in the latest Oracle/ITA rankings, while Jose Salazar comes in at No. 34. The duo sits at No. 3 in the doubles rankings, after closing the regular season winning four straight doubles decisions, including three over ranked competition. During their streak, the pair also led at the clinch of all three doubles matches that went unfinished.
Salazar leads the team this spring with a 17-5 record, 8-3 in conference play. Oscar Mesquida is tied with Salazar for most conference wins, holding an 8-2 record after winning his last three singles decisions, all at the No. 3 spot against SEC opponents. Mesquida has predominately played at the No. 4 spot this season, where he is 10-3 overall, but moved up to the No. 3 position during the final three matches of the year. The sophomore has won nine of his last 10 singles decisions, including taking seven of his last eight against SEC foes.
Johan den Toom also has eight conference victories this spring, going 8-3 against SEC competition, all at the No. 5 position, where he is 13-3 overall. The senior had won five straight decisions before dropping his final regular season match against Tate Allwardt of Vanderbilt. Den Toom heads into postseason play winning eight of his last 10 matches.
The winner of Thursday’s match will square off against the No. 2 seed Georgia Bulldogs. Arkansas dropped its regular season matchup with Georgia in Athens 4-3.
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