BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team knocked off the Southern Methodist Lady Mustangs on Friday, 5-2, to end a two-match losing streak at home in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We played really solid tennis today,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “It was a very good showing for our team and I think that we are starting to put it together. We’ve definitely gone through our share of adversity this season and now we’re finally starting to play some solid tennis. I’m really excited about the way we played.”
With the Lady Tigers leading the non-conference match by a count of 3-1, LSU’s Tami Botts clinched the Lady Tigers’ ninth-victory of the season by handily defeating SMU’s Chrissy Terrill, 6-1, 6-2, on court No. 4. Botts improved to an overall record of 15-11 with the win.
LSU snapped a two-match losing streak on Friday and improved to an overall record of 9-3 on the season. The Lady Tigers had previously dropped home matches to fourth-ranked Florida and seventh-ranked Vanderbilt. LSU recorded its seventh non-conference win of the season and strengthened its overall non-conference mark to 7-1.
Southern Methodist dropped to an overall record of 6-3 on Friday and an 0-3 mark in road matches. Five of the Lady Mustangs’ six wins have come at home in Dallas, Texas. SMU defeated Miami of Ohio at a neutral court in West Lafayette, Ind., for its sixth victory of the season.
“SMU is a good team,” Minnis said. “They’ve been ranked in the top 50 for a long time this year and they’ve had a couple of big wins this season. It was a very big win for us to get the victory today.”
The Lady Tigers swept the doubles competition to jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the match.
LSU’s 20th-ranked combination of Bruna Colosio and Rocio Fantilli dominated Megan Russell and Chrissy Terrill on court No. 1 to pick up the first-doubles victory of the match, 8-1. With the win, the Lady Tiger duo improved to a dual record of 9-1.
Fernanda Tsucamoto and Amy McIlhaney clinched the doubles point for the Lady Tigers with an 8-3 victory on court No. 2 over SMU’s pair of Kit Carson and Dee Dee Herring. LSU’s Lauren Haddix and Mandy Rice completed the sweep on court No. 3 by coming from behind to upend Sarah Love Swaney and Katie Pruitt, 9-7.
In singles play, the Lady Tigers were victorious in the top-four singles positions.
LSU’s 43rd-ranked Colosio handed the Lady Mustangs’ 25th-ranked Herring a 6-3, 6-1 defeat on court No. 1, while Haddix breezed by SMU’s Patricia Ubeda-Diaz in No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-0. Fantilli, the Lady Tiger freshman from Puerto Madryn, Argentina, picked up the team’s fifth and final point of the match as she overcame a first-set deficit to drop the Lady Mustangs’ Russell in a third-set super tiebreaker, 10-5. Fantilli snapped a four-match losing streak with the 2-6, 7-6(4), 10-5 victory.
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on March 16, as the Lady Tigers host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at noon in the opening match of a Friday double-header. The 17th-ranked LSU men’s team is scheduled to face Kentucky at the conclusion of the Lady Tigers’ match.
LSU: 5, Southern Methodist: 2
Singles
1. #43 Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. #25 Dee Dee Herring (SMU), 6-3, 6-1.
2. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Megan Russell (SMU), 2-6, 7-6(4), 10-5.
3. Lauren Haddix (LSU) def. Patricia Ubeda-Diaz (SMU), 6-4, 6-0.
4. Tami Botts (LSU) def. Chrissy Terrill (SMU), 6-1, 6-2.
5. Kit Carson (SMU) def. Fernanda Tsucamoto (LSU), 3-6, 7-6(6), 10-7.
6. Siayareh Rambally (SMU) def. Mandy Rice (LSU), 6-2, 6-3.
Doubles
1. #20 Colosio/Fantilli (LSU) def. Russell/Terrill (SMU), 8-1.
2. Tsucamoto/McIlhaney (LSU) def. Carson/Herring (SMU), 8-3.
3. Haddix/Rice (LSU) def. Sarah Love Swaney/Katie Pruitt (SMU), 9-7.