WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 49th-ranked Purdue men's tennis team (2-2) will hit the road for a dual match at No. 39 LSU (3-1) Saturday. Action from 'Dub' Robinson Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., is scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET start.
The Boilermakers are looking to bounce back from a tough ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Columbus, Ohio, where they went 0-2 with losses to then-No. 41 Tulsa and then-No. 39 Auburn. Junior Arthur Dobradin, who is 3-0 playing at Nos. 5 and 6, provided the lone point for Purdue in the 4-1 loss to Auburn. Boilermaker duo Ricky Medinilla and Diego Acosta were also able to remain undefeated (3-0) with a win over Tulsa's Dylan McCloskey and Or Ram-Harel, 6-2.
LSU was also in ITA Kick-Off Weekend action in College Station, Texas. The Tigers split their matches, defeating then-No. 33 San Diego (4-2) and falling to then-No. 37 TCU (4-1). The loss was the first of LSU's season, with their two other wins coming over Lamar and Nicholls on Jan. 18.
The ITA has not released new singles and doubles rankings since the first regular season edition on Jan. 6. Medinilla enters Saturday's contest ranked 85th for Purdue. A trio of Tigers are included in the singles rankings: No. 55 Chris Simpson, No. 67 Tam Trinh and No. 111 Justin Butsch. Trinh and doubles partner Eric Perez are the 52nd-ranked duo in the nation.
Saturday's meeting will be the third ever between the two programs, with LSU leading the series 2-0. Both previous meetings took place on the Tigers' home turf in 1983 and 1985.