No. 17 LSU Men's Tennis Rallies to Defeat No. 8 Texas A&M, 4-3

LSU overcomes 1-3 deficit to beat top-10 opponent in Waco

Published on Feb. 14, 2026

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The No. 17 ranked LSU men's tennis team came from behind to defeat No. 8 Texas A&M, 4-3, on Saturday morning at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. LSU improved to 8-1 on the season, while Texas A&M dropped to 6-3 after the hard-fought match.

Why it matters

This comeback victory over a top-10 opponent is an impressive early-season win for the LSU men's tennis team, demonstrating their resilience and ability to win close matches against elite competition. The win should boost LSU's national ranking and tournament seeding as they continue their season.

The details

LSU fell behind 1-3 after losing the doubles point and two of the first four singles matches. However, the Tigers rallied with wins from Erik Arutiunian, Matias Ponce de Leon, Sasa Markovic, and Rudy Ceccon in singles play to clinch the 4-3 victory.

  • The match took place on Saturday morning, February 14, 2026.

The players

Erik Arutiunian

An LSU men's tennis player who won his singles match against Alexander Frusina of Texas A&M.

Matias Ponce de Leon

An LSU men's tennis player who won his singles match against Tiago Pires of Texas A&M.

Sasa Markovic

An LSU men's tennis player who won his singles match against Markus Molder of Texas A&M.

Rudy Ceccon

An LSU men's tennis player who won his singles match against Kriish Tyagi of Texas A&M.

Theo Papamalamis

A Texas A&M men's tennis player who won his singles match against Olaf Pieczkowski of LSU.

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What’s next

LSU will take on the winner of No. 9 UCF (8-1) and UC Santa Barbara (6-1) on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

The takeaway

LSU's men's tennis team has shown they can compete with and defeat top-ranked opponents, which should boost their confidence and standing as they continue their season.