BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team lost a heartbreaking match at the hands of the Auburn Lady Tigers, 4-3, on Tuesday at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“It was a tough loss for us,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “It was an extremely hard-fought contest and it came down to the very last match. I have to give Auburn some credit because they were able to come up with the big shots when they needed them.”
With LSU leading the overall score of the match 3-2, two courts were in the midst of a third-set tiebreaker. Auburn’s Carolina Maurer and LSU’s Rocio Fantilli were battling it out on court No. 3, while LSU’s Tami Botts and Auburn’s Petra Bercik were competing on court No. 2.
Maurer rallied from a one-set deficit to defeat Rocio, 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4), in the No. 3 singles match and kept Auburn’s hope alive by tying the score at 3-3. In the clinching match of the Southeastern Conference matchup, Auburn’s Bercik staved off numerous match points against Botts and held on to notch a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) victory on court No. 2 to secure the win.
LSU dropped to an overall record of 7-7 on the season and remained winless in conference play at 0-5. The Auburn Lady Tigers extended their winning streak to three matches and upped its SEC record to 4-2 on the year. Auburn owns an impressive 10-3 overall dual-match record this season.
In Tuesday’s doubles competition, Auburn won on courts No. 1 and No. 2 to earn an early 1-0 lead in the contest. LSU’s tandem of Botts and Perri Budd earned the Lady Tigers’ lone doubles victory on court No. 3, 8-3. With the win, Botts and Budd increased their record on the season to 11-7.
Three-time All-American Bruna Colosio evened the score at 1-1 early on in singles play as the 2001 SEC Player of the Year breezed by Auburn’s Carolina Ramirez in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. The Auburn Lady Tigers then countered with a win of their own on court No. 6 as Martina Janska dropped Budd, 6-3, 6-0.
LSU then retook the lead with vital wins on courts No. 4 and No. 5 recorded by Amanda Mang and Amy McIlhaney. Mang notched her third SEC win of the season with a 7-6(4), 6-1 victory on court No. 4, while McIlhaney used two tiebreakers to knock off Auburn’s Liz Sauerborn on court No. 5, 7-6(3), 7-6(4).
Mang upped her record on the year to 17-12, while McIlhaney improved to 16-11.
The LSU women’s tennis team will look to end its six-match losing skid on Wednesday, as the Lady Tigers return to the road to face the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at 2:30 p.m. Tulsa is currently the 49th-ranked team in the nation and owns a 9-4 overall record on the season.
Auburn 4, LSU 3
Doubles
1. #34 Katia Illarionova/Maurer (AU) def. Colosio/Fantilli (LSU), 8-5*
2. Ramirez/Bercik (AU) def. Mang/McIlhaney (LSU), 8-2
3. Botts/Budd (LSU) def. Suitor/Sauerborn (AU), 8-3
Singles
1. Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. Carolina Ramirez (AU), 6-3, 6-2
2. Petra Bercik (AU) def. Tami Botts (LSU), 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5)*
3. Carolina Maurer (AU) def. Rocio Fantilli (LSU), 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4)
4. Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Sarah Suitor (AU), 7-6(4), 6-1
5. Amy McIlhaney (LSU) def. Liz Sauerborn (AU), 7-6(3), 7-6(4)
6. Martina Janska (AU) def. Perri Budd (LSU), 6-3, 6-0
* clinching match
Team Records: LSU (7-7, 0-5 SEC), Auburn (10-3, 4-2 SEC)