Men’s Tennis Welcomes LSU, Vanderbilt to the Boone
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the final time in the month of March, Kentucky men’s tennis (9-6, 2-3 SEC) will play at home, hosting LSU and Vanderbilt at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington for a pair of matches this weekend.
The Cats and Tigers will match up at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 13, followed by a Saturday matinee with the Commodores beginning at 1 p.m. ET on March 15.
Kentucky enters the weekend a perfect 7-0 in home matches this season, only dropping an average of one point per home match this season. Since 2021, the Cats are a remarkable 64-8 (.926) in matches played at the Boone.
Four Wildcats are currently ranked in singles by the ITA, led by No. 53 Jaden Weekes. No. 70 Antoine Ghibaudo, No. 105 Charlelie Cosnet, and No. 121 Jack Loutit help round out the ranked players in one of the deepest singles lineups in the country.
Despite the Cats dropping a pair of road matches last weekend, Loutit was one of the lone bright spots. The sophomore from Auckland, New Zealand defeated a pair of top 30 players in No. 27 Ryan Colby of Georgia and No. 29 Alex Kotzen of Tennessee to bring his season total of ranked singles wins to three. He also teamed up with Eli Stephenson to earn the Cats’ first ranked doubles win of the season, taking down No. 23 Freddy Blaydes and Niels Ratiu of Georgia.
LSU enters Thursday’s contest with a 9-8 record, including an 0-5 mark in conference play. The Tiger duo of Julien Penzlin and Aleksi Lofman enter the match at No. 45 in the ITA Doubles Rankings. Last season, the Cats defeated the Tigers in both matchups, including a 4-0 win in the SEC Tournament Semifinals in Baton Rouge.
Vanderbilt comes into the weekend with an 8-7 (1-4 SEC) record, holding their lone conference win over LSU. The Dores will host No. 16 Mississippi State on Thursday before making the short trip to Lexington. Nathan Cox and Michael Ross check in at No. 28 in the ITA Doubles Rankings to lead the Commodores. A season ago, the Cats took home a 6-1 victory in Nashville.
Following the weekend at home, the Wildcats will head south for a season-long four match road trip. The Cats will play a pair of matches in Alabama next week, traveling to Auburn on Thursday, March 20 and playing against the Crimson Tide on Saturday, March 22.
All home matches will be played at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, and admission is free to the public for all regular season contests. A live stream will be provided for all home matches on UKAthletics.com.
For the latest on UK Men’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.
