TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The LSU women’s tennis team defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide Friday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to pick up it’s first Southeastern Conference win of the season.
The Lady Tigers nearly swept the Crimson Tide in the victory and improved their overall record to 9-5 with the 8-1 win. LSU finished the match with a 1-4 mark in SEC play, while Alabama remained winless at 0-6. Alabama’s overall record is 5-8 on the season.
“We played really good tennis today,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “Every one of our girls gave it their all, and I’m proud of their performances in this match. It’s good to have an SEC win under our belt. Now we just have to go out and win some more by playing like we did today.”
After singles play LSU led the Crimson Tide by the score of 5-1. The Lady Tigers’ 13th-ranked Bruna Colosio defeated Dominigue Glinderva in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, on court No. 1, while 64th-ranked Ana Paula Mores of LSU was victorious on court No. 2, 6-0, 6-1. Mores defeated Weyli Chang.
The other singles winners for the Lady Tigers were Fernanda Tsucamoto, Lauren Haddix, and Mandy Rice. Tsucamoto defeated Jenny Ketchum, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, on court No. 4. Haddix defeated Salia Mathew, 6-4, 6-2, on court No. 5, and Rice picked up the victory in No. 6 singles over Becca Baum, 6-0, 6-2.
The Crimson Tide’s only victory of the day came on court No. 3. Alabama’s Millie Begoric outplayed LSU’s Tami Botts, 7-5, 6-3. Botts made her first appearance of the season at No. 3 singles in the match. She had played in the No. 4 singles position in every earlier SEC match of the season.
The Lady Tigers swept doubles play with victories from 16th-ranked Colosio/Mores (8-2), Amy McIlhaney/Tsucamoto (8-5), and Kelly Craycraft/Botts. The final score of the match was LSU 8, Alabama 1.
The LSU Lady Tigers will next be in action March 21 as they host the Kentucky Wildcats at 2 p.m. in the “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.