BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team is poised to open its Southeastern Conference schedule on Friday, as the Lady Tigers host the 22nd-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“Once again, this is a very big match for us,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “Not only is this the first conference match of the season, but Alabama has a really good team and will be hard to beat. It’s always good to get off to a good start in the conference and a win tomorrow would be huge for us.”
LSU heads into Friday’s SEC match versus the Crimson Tide with a 7-2 overall record. The Lady Tigers opened the 2002 dual-match season with five-straight wins at home against Centenary, Southern, Purdue, Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Monroe before being edged out by Florida State, 4-3, on the road.
With the overall score of the match tied at 3-3, Florida State’s Christina Denny sealed the Lady Seminole victory by outlasting LSU’s Rocio Fantilli on court No. 2. Denny earned a vital 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-2 win in the non-conference battle to hand the Lady Tigers their first loss of the season. LSU’s second loss of the season was also a heartbreaker as the Lady Tigers fell to the 18th-ranked Texas A&M Lady Aggies, 4-3.
The Crimson Tide comes into Baton Rouge with an 8-1 overall record on the season and a 2-1 mark in road contests. Alabama’s lone loss of the year came on the road against the 12th-ranked Washington Huskies. The Crimson Tide fell to the Huskies, 5-2.
In last season’s annual battle between the two schools, LSU dropped Alabama at home, 5-2. With the win, the Lady Tigers increased their decisive lead in the all-time series to 21-6. LSU won the previous seven contest versus the Tide and have not lost to Alabama since a 6-2 defeat in 1994.
The LSU women’s tennis team will open SEC play on Friday against the 22nd-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.