MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State opens defense of their Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship on the road Saturday against LSU in a non-conference match.

The match is scheduled for an 8 am start, and will be played at the LSU Tennis Center. The match is part of the Donni Leaycraft Scramble, in which Alabama State will play either UAB or Texas-Rio Grande Valley later in the afternoon.

LAST TIME OUT

• Alabama State fell to 11th-ranked Florida State to close out the 2018 season in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The Hornets advanced to the NCAA Tournament by winning the SWAC championship over Jackson State in the finals.

AN INSIDE LOOK AT ALABAMA STATE

• The Hornets have completed two consecutive seasons of undefeated play in the conference, with their last regular season loss coming February 26, 2016 to Jackson State. In that same year, Alabama State lost to Jackson State in the finals of the conference tournament.
• Alabama State returns their entire starting lineup from last season's run through the conference and a berth in the NCAA Tournament against Florida State.
• Senior Ion Efrim was invited to play in the ITA Master's earlier in the fall based off of his performance in conference during the 2017-18 season.
• Last season Chris Andre won one of two major individual awards on the men's side as he was named the SWAC Freshman of the Year. Andre closed out the season with an overall record of 7-1 in conference singles and doubles play combined; while boasting an 8-3 overall record. The Hornets had five players named all-conference, with three of those finishing undefeated in conference play. Carl Louis-Luckmann (4-0), Tomas Fernandez (5-0) and Andre (5-0) all finished SWAC play undefeated, while Ion Efrim (2-0) also finished undefeated while many of his matches went unfinished. He finished 4-0 in doubles play. Alexis Collard (5-1) was the final member of the team from the Hornets.

AN INSIDE LOOK AT LSU

• LSU brought in Andy Brandi to lead the program after 17 years at Florida as the women's coach, and compiled a 460-43 record. In 17 seasons, he led the Gators to three NCAA titles, five NCAA runner-up finishes, four singles national champions, four doubles national champions, 14 SEC titles, three undefeated seasons and an unprecedented winning percentage of 91.5. In addition, every freshman coached by Brandi for four years earned All-SEC honors, played for a national title and was part of at least three SEC championship teams.
• The Tigers finished 2018 with a 10-16 record, just 2-10 in conference play.
• LSU returns four players from last season to go along with a trio of true freshmen, and three transfers.

WHAT'S NEXT

• Alabama State will be off until January 23, when they play host to West Alabama in a doubleheader with the women at the Olean Black Underwood Tennis Center.

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