BATON ROUGE — Both the 14th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team and the 23rd-ranked LSU women’s tennis team picked up two dual-match victories on Saturday as the Tiger tennis squads opened up their 2001 dual seasons at home in the W. T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“It was good to get the season started,” said LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown. “A couple of the guys had a little bit of nervousness out there today, but they played well, and it’s good to get these matches under our belts and move on. We need to take the things that we learn from these early matches and improve on them in practice.”
The Tigers defeated both the Southern Jaguars and the Centenary Gents on Saturday without rendering a single point. LSU now boasts a 2-0 dual-match record, while Centenary and Southern each fall to 0-1. The Lady Tigers are also 2-0 in dual play, and matched the Tigers’ feat of not allowing a point in their matches against Centenary and West Florida. The LSU tennis teams posted 7-0 victories in all-four of Saturday’s contests.
In the 10 a.m. matches, the Tigers dominated Southern and picked up their first win of the season, while the Lady Tigers did likewise against Centenary. The men’s team clinched its match when senior Jonathan Hurd defeated Southern’s Herber Urbina, 6-0, 6-2. LSU has never been beaten by Southern and has accumulated a 7-0 all-time record versus the Jaguars.
The second matches of the day for the LSU tennis teams each ended in a similar fashion to the first pair. Anthony Mateljan secured the Tigers’ 7-0 victory over Centenary with a 6-1, 6-2, win over the Gents’ Mark Lewis, while the Lady Tigers’ 44th-ranked Bruna Colosio clinched her second match of the day with a 6-3, 7-6(2) win over West Florida’s Andreea Petrisor.
“I thought we did an okay job today of competing,” said LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis. “But we are going to really have to go out and work on our intensity. We had too many positions today where we were up big, but then we let them back into the match. To West Florida’s credit, they fought hard, hit some good shots, and played well against us today.”
The LSU men’s tennis team will next be in action Tuesday, January 30, as they host Southeastern Louisiana at 2 p.m. The Lady Tigers’ next matches are on Saturday, February 3, against both UL-Monroe (1 p.m.) and Southern (6 p.m.) at home in the “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
Women’s Tennis Results
#23 LSU 7, Centenary 0
Singles
1. #44 Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. Mandy Yearwood (Cent), 6-0, 6-1.
2. Rocio Fantilla (LSU) def. Sarah Everett (Cent), 6-2, 6-1.
3. Tami Botts (LSU) def. Lindsey Yearwood (Cent), 6-0, 6-1.
4. Fernanda Tsucamoto (LSU) def. Elizabeth Pitts (Cent), 6-1, 6-0.
5. Amy McIlhaney (LSU) def. Erin Barr (Cent), 6-0, 6-0.
6. Mandy Rice (LSU) def. Brandy Smith (Cent), 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles
1. Colosio/Fantilla (LSU) def. M. Yearwood/Everett (Cent), 8-2.
2. Tsucamoto/McIlhaney (LSU) def. Pitts/L. Yearwood (Cent), 8-0.
3. Botts/Rice (LSU) def. Barr/Smith (Cent), 8-0.
#23 LSU 7, West Florida 0
Singles
1. #44 Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. Andreea Petrisor (UWF), 6-3, 7-6(2).
2. Rocio Fantilla (LSU) def. Tania Kovatchka (UWF), 7-6(4), 7-5.
3. Tami Botts (LSU) def. Ilona Szalai (UWF), 6-1, 6-0.
4. Fernanda Tsucamoto (LSU) def. Hope Zwilling (UWF), 6-2, 7-5.
5. Amy McIlhaney (LSU) def. Sabine Krawietz (UWF), 6-4, 7-5.
6. Mandy Rice (LSU) def. Julie Kraft (UWF), 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles
1. Colosio/Fantilla (LSU) def. Petrisor/Kovatchka (UWF), 8-3.
2. Tsucamoto/McIlhaney (LSU) def. Zwilling/Krawietz (UWF), 8-3.
3. Botts/Rice (LSU) def. Szalai/Celeste Gracey (UWF), 8-1.