BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team is set to begin Southeastern Conference play on Sunday, as the Lady Tigers host the Alabama Crimson Tide at 1 p.m. in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“This match marks the beginning of an extremely-tough conference schedule,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “Alabama is a very good team and the SEC is arguably the best league in the nation. Every match from here on out is going to be a struggle. We are going to need to step up our level of play as a team, and individually our players need to fight and scrap to the end.”
Both the Lady Tigers and the Crimson Tide enter Sunday’s match with only one loss in dual-match competition. LSU heads into the contest with an overall record of 6-1, while Alabama comes in at 8-1. The Lady Tiger tennis team recorded its lone loss of the season in a road battle versus Texas A&M. The final score of the contest was 5-2 in favor of the Aggies. The Crimson Tide dropped its only match of the season to 20th-ranked Northwestern, 6-1, in Evanston, Ill.
LSU looks to pick up its third-straight victory on Sunday after the team notched wins against both the Florida State Seminoles and the Houston Cougars earlier in the week. The Lady Tigers edged the Seminoles, 4-3, in Baton Rouge, and then cruised past Houston, 6-1, to gain their first-road victory of the season.
Alabama played its exclusive home match of the month on Friday, as the Crimson Tide dominated Mississippi State, 6-1, in the team’s SEC opener.
Alabama also recorded victory over Florida State this season. The Tide upset the Seminoles, 4-3, on the road in Tallahassee, Fla.
“I’m hoping that home-court advantage will be a major factor for us in tomorrow’s match,” stated Minnis. “I’d like for our fans to come out, watch a good match, and continue to support the team. It is a huge advantage for us when we play at home, because our girls feed off of the energy of the fans.”
The Lady Tigers’ 42nd-ranked Bruna Colosio looks to rebound from a 6-1, 6-2, defeat at the hands of Houston’s Sarah Borwell in her most recent match. The loss marked Colosio’s first defeat in dual-match play this season, as well as her first-singles loss since September 30 of last year. Colosio currently possesses a 10-1 overall record and has accumulated a 4-1 mark in dual competition.
Colosio and the Lady Tigers will be challenged by Alabama’s 96th-ranked freshman, Emmanuelle Berard, as well as the Crimson Tide’s two-ranked doubles teams. The combination of Berard and Dominique Glinzler is the No. 39 team in the nation, while Weyli Change and Selia Mathew combine to form the 49th-ranked doubles team.
Last season, the LSU women’s tennis team traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to do battle with the Crimson Tide and posted an 8-1 win. The Lady Tigers own a 20-6 all-time record versus Alabama and have not lost to the Crimson Tide since a 6-2 road defeat in1994.
The LSU women’s tennis team will begin SEC competition as the Lady Tigers take on the Alabama Crimson Tide at 1 p.m. in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. Admission is free to all LSU tennis matches.