BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team breezed by Centenary and Southern on Saturday, as the Lady Tigers defeated both of their in-state rivals by a count of 5-1 at home in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“I think that our team did a really good job today of going out and pretty much dominating like they should have,” said LSU first-year assistant coach Sandy Sureephong. “They didn’t play around. They stayed focused and they went out and got the job done.”
With only six active players on the roster, the Lady Tigers were forced to surrender a point in each of their matches on Saturday due to a slight injury to sophomore Rocio Fantilli.
“It’s not anything serious,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “She was just feeling a little bit tender today, and we didn’t want to take a chance of her straining it. She will definitely be in the lineup tomorrow when we take on Purdue.”
LSU’s talented senior class highlighted both of the Lady Tigers’ victories on Saturday. Bruna Colosio, LSU’s No. 1 singles player and the 2001 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, was victorious in both of her matches. She defeated both Centenary’s Mandy Yearwood, 6-2, 6-2, and Southern’s Nicole Thomas, 6-0, 6-1, to improve to a 2-0 overall record.
The nation’s 87th-ranked singles player, Tami Botts, only surrendered one game in her two matches on Saturday. She cruised past Centenary’s Sarah Everett, 6-1, 6-0, and Jerlonda Stewart of Southern, 6-0, 6-0. With the victories, Botts improved to an overall record of 10-3 on the season.
Amy McIlhaney, the Lady Tigers’ senior from Marietta, Ga., totally flattened her competition on Saturday as she didn’t lose a game. She dropped both Centenary’s Elizabeth Pitts and Southern’s Kellie Nabors by a score of 6-0, 6-0. McIlhaney upped her 2001-02 overall record to 9-6 with the wins.
LSU improved its dual-match record to 2-0 and remained undefeated versus both Southern and Grambling. The Lady Tigers own a 15-0 all-time record against Centenary and a 9-0 mark versus Southern. With the losses, Centenary fell to 1-4 on the season while Southern dropped to 0-3.
The Lady Tigers’ freshmen, Perri Budd and Amanda Mang, were each undefeated on Saturday. Mang recorded two victories on court No. 3 and Budd knocked off her opponents in the No. 5 spot.
The LSU women’s tennis team will look to improve to an early 3-0 record on Sunday, as the Lady Tigers host the Purdue Boilermakers at 1 p.m. in the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
#27 LSU def. Centenary, 5-1.
Singles
Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. Mandy Yearwood (Cent), 6-2, 6-2.
#87 Tami Botts (LSU) def. Sarah Everett (Cent), 6-1, 6-0.
Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Brandy Smith (Cent), 6-0, 6-1.
Amy McIlhaney (LSU) def. Elizabeth Pitts (Cent), 6-0, 6-0.
Perri Budd (LSU) def. Lindsey Yearwood (Cent), 6-1, 6-2.
Saba Kmonsari (Cent.) won by default.
#27 LSU def. Southern, 5-1.
Singles
Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. Nicole Thomas (SU), 6-0, 6-1.
#87 Tami Botts (LSU) def. Jerlonda Stewart (SU), 6-0, 6-0.
Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Isoke Perry (SU), 6-0, 6-1.
Amy McIlhaney (LSU) def. Kellie Nabors (SU), 6-0, 6-0.
Perri Budd (LSU) def. Carla Alexander (SU), 6-1, 6-0.
Southern won by default.