BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team finished the 2000 season as the No. 17 team in the nation, as the final College Tennis Weekly rankings were released Thursday.
“It was a tremendous accomplishment to end the season the way that we did,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “We are returning five of our six starters next season, and that adds a great deal of optimism for us especially after finishing this season as the 17th-ranked team in the nation.”
The Lady Tigers finished the season with a 16-11 overall record, an appearance in the NCAA Championships, and a spot in the Sweet 16. LSU’s Sweet 16 appearance was its first since 1995.
The Lady Tigers were victorious over 42nd-ranked Iowa, 5-3, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, then upset 8th-ranked Pepperdine, 5-4, to advance to the Sweet 16.
The 2000 LSU women’s tennis team was the 11th team in Lady Tiger history to finish ranked among the top 50 teams in the nation. This season’s Lady Tiger team achieved the program’s sixth top 25 finish of its 24-year history.
“I’m extremely proud of what this team accomplished this season,” Minnis said. “They performed well against a very tough regular season schedule, and that helped us advance to the Sweet 16.”
Last season, LSU ended with a 13-11 overall record and finished as the 28th-ranked team in the nation. The Lady Tigers advanced to the second-round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to the Pepperdine Waves.