BATON ROUGE — The 25th-ranked LSU women’s tennis team returns home to the W.T “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium on Sunday for a Southeastern Conference battle with the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks after completing a three-match road trip.
“This is a huge match for us against Arkansas,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “They are a very good team and we have had a big rivalry with them over the years. We’re starting to play better tennis right now and we’ve been playing against one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season. We purposefully play one of the most competitive schedules in the country, because in the past it has paid off for us in that it helps our intensity and our focus at the end of the season.”
The Lady Tigers enter Sunday’s contest with an overall record of 11-6 and a 2-5 mark against conference opponents. Five of LSU’s six losses this season have come against teams ranked in the nation’s top 10. The Lady Tigers have dropped dual-match contests versus No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Vanderbilt, No. 9 Texas A&M, and the 22nd-ranked Kentucky Wildcats.
“I think that sometimes our fans see that we are 11-6, and they think that we’re not having a good season,” Minnis said. “But when you play the type of schedule that we do, you have to be happy for each and every win. We’ve lost to some tough teams this season and now we just need to close out the season strong and pick up some big wins.”
LSU completed a three-match road trip on Wednesday by recording a non-conference victory over Purdue, 5-2. With the win, the Lady Tigers improved their road mark to 3-3 on the season and the team upped its non-conference record to 9-1.
The Lady Razorbacks head into Sunday’s SEC match-up with an overall record of 7-8 on the season and a two-match losing streak. Arkansas was blanked in its previous dual-match contests versus No. 18 Baylor and 10th-ranked Texas. The Lady Backs were dropped on the road by Baylor, 4-0, and Texas, 7-0.
Arkansas owns a 1-6 SEC record this season. The Lady Razorbacks picked up their lone-conference victory against 23rd-ranked Ole Miss, 4-3, on the road in Oxford, Miss. Arkansas is in the midst of a five-match losing streak versus SEC opponents.
Last season, LSU and Arkansas faced each other twice, as the teams met during both the regular season and then in the opening round of the SEC tournament. The Lady Razorbacks claimed the opening match-up, 5-4, at home in Fayetteville, Ark., but were upset by LSU, 5-2, at the SEC tournament.
The Lady Tigers lead the all-time series between the schools, 10-9. In the singles competition, the match on court No. 1 will feature two of the nation’s top-25 singles players. Arkansas’ Chin Bee Khoo comes in as the 19th-ranked player in the nation, while the Lady Tigers’ Bruna Colosio is the country’s No. 23 competitor.
Khoo has accumulated a 26-8 overall record this season and an 11-4 mark in the No. 1 singles position. She is 9-6 in dual matches this spring and 2-5 versus conference opponents. Colosio heads into Sunday’s match in the midst of a nine-match winning streak and with a 19-2 overall record. She is a perfect 6-0 in SEC play and 13-1 in dual matches.
Last season, the pair split the two contests as Colosio earned a victory in the first match, 6-4, 7-5, and Khoo was able to hold on, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4, in the SEC tournament.
The 25th-ranked LSU women’s tennis team will host the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks on Sunday at noon, as the Lady Tigers look to earn their third SEC victory of the season at home in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. Admission is free to all LSU tennis matches, and the LSU Tennis Department will provide free deli sandwiches for the fans.