ATHENS, Ga. — The 25th-ranked LSU women’s tennis team was overpowered by the second-ranked Georgia Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday, as the defending national champions surged to a 5-1 victory here at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Center in Athens, Ga.
“Georgia is an outstanding team,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “They definitely outplayed us today and they showed why they are both the defending champs and the No. 2 team in the nation. We just need to put this loss behind us and focus on our upcoming match with Kentucky.”
With the loss, the Lady Tigers fell to an overall record of 10-5 on the season and a 2-4 mark versus Southeastern Conference opponents. Tuesday’s defeat was LSU’s third loss of the season against an adversary ranked among the top 10. The Lady Tigers recorded identical 6-1 losses to both fourth-ranked Florida and seventh-ranked Vanderbilt earlier in the season.
Georgia remained perfect in SEC play this season with a record of 4-0 and improved to an overall mark of 10-1. The Lady Bulldogs extended their winning streak to five-straight matches with the victory and head to Mississippi State on Thursday for yet another SEC duel.
The Lady Tigers were a break away from winning the doubles point on court No. 1 in Tuesday’s match as LSU’s 20th-ranked tandem comprised of Bruna Colosio and Rocio Fantilli dropped its second-doubles match of the season to Georgia’s Agata Cioroch and Tina Hojnik, 9-7. The Lady Tigers’ Amy McIlhaney and Fernanda Tsucamoto picked up the first-doubles win on court No. 2 against Lori Grey and Alexandra Smith, 8-4.
In singles play, LSU knotted the score at 1-1 as the Lady Tigers’ 43rd-ranked Colosio earned her seventh-straight victory on court No. 1 by defeating Georgia’s 51st-ranked Mariel Verban, 6-2, 4-1. Colosio handed Verban her first loss of the season as she was forced to retire in the second set due to a pulled stomach muscle. With the win, Colosio improved to an overall record of 17-2 and notched her seventh win of the season over an opponent ranked among the top 100 in the nation.
With the total-team score even at 1-1, the Lady Bulldogs took control of the match and swept singles matches numbered 2-5 in straight sets to hand LSU its fourth-straight SEC loss. In the final match of the contest, Georgia’s Alexandra Smith and LSU’s Mandy Rice split sets, 6-1, 3-6, before the match was suspended so that the Lady Tigers could catch their flight back to Baton Rouge.
The 25th-ranked LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Sunday, March 25, at 11 a.m. as the Lady Tigers travel to Lexington, Ky., for an SEC battle with the Kentucky Wildcats.
#2 Georgia 5, #25 LSU 1
Singles
1. #43 Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. #51 Mariel Verban (UGA), 6-2, 4-1 (ret).
2. #61 Lori Grey (UGA) def. Rocio Fantilli (LSU), 6-2, 6-0.
3. #28 Anne Nguyen (UGA) def Lauren Haddix (LSU), 6-1, 6-3.
4. #55 Tina Hojnik (UGA) def. Tami Botts (LSU), 6-2, 6-2.
5. #52 Agata Cioroch (UGA) def. Fernanda Tsucamoto (LSU), 6-3, 6-2.
6. Mandy Rice (LSU) vs. Alexandra Smith (UGA), suspended.
Doubles
1. Cioroch/Hojnick (UGA) def. #20 Colosio/Fantilli (LSU), 9-7.
2. Tsucamoto/Amy McIlhaney (LSU) def. Grey/Smith (UGA), 8-4.
3. Nguyen/Christa Grey (UGA) def. Haddix/Botts (LSU), 8-2.