BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team looks to rebound after two-straight losses versus top-10 teams on Friday, as the Lady Tigers host the Southern Methodist Lady Mustangs at 2 p.m. in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We played some very tough teams in our last-two matches,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “Florida is the fourth-ranked team in the nation right now and Vanderbilt is currently-ranked sixth. We just need to put those losses behind us and focus on Southern Methodist, because SMU is really well coached and an extremely talented team.”
LSU heads into Friday’s double-dual match versus SMU with an 8-3 overall record and a 2-2 mark against Southeastern Conference opponents. The Lady Mustangs enter the match with an overall record of 6-2. SMU handily defeated the University of Texas-El Paso, 6-1, in its only Western Athletic Conference match of the season.
In its most-recent dual match, the LSU women’s tennis team was defeated by seventh-ranked Vanderbilt, 6-1, in Baton Rouge. The loss marked the Lady Tigers’ second-straight defeat as LSU fell, 6-1, to fourth-ranked Florida in its previous match. SMU posted a shutout in its last match, as the Lady Mustangs enjoyed a 7-0 road win over Miami of Ohio.
The Lady Tigers are 6-1 in non-conference matches this season. LSU defeated Centenary (7-0), West Florida (7-0), Southern (6-0), UL-Monroe (6-1), Florida State (4-3) and Houston (6-1). The Lady Tigers’ lone non-conference loss of the year was a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Texas A&M. LSU lost its first-dual match of the season to the Aggies in College Station, Texas.
Both of SMU’s defeats this season have been in road contests. The Lady Mustangs fell to 14th-ranked Baylor, 5-2, in Waco, Texas, and the Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Ind., also by a score of 5-2. SMU is winless on the road this season and owns an 0-2 mark in road-dual matches.
“We are all looking forward to tomorrow’s match,” Minnis said. “We’ve had a great week of practice and the team is chomping at the bit to go out there and compete for another win. The home crowd will also be beneficial tomorrow, because our players feed off of the excitement and noise of the crowd.”
Friday’s contest will feature a match comprised of two nationally-ranked singles players. LSU’s 44th-ranked Bruna Colosio will face the Lady Mustangs’ 18th-ranked Dee Dee Herring on court No. 1. Last season, Colosio recorded a 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-2, victory over Herring as the Lady Tigers defeated SMU, 8-1, on the road in Dallas, Texas.
LSU looks to extend its nine-match winning streak versus the Lady Mustangs on Friday. The Lady Tigers hold an 11-2 all-time record against SMU and have not been defeated in the series since an 8-1 loss in 1979. LSU has never been beaten by the Lady Mustangs in Baton Rouge.
The LSU women’s tennis team will host the Southern Methodist Lady Mustangs on Friday at 2 p.m. in the “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.