BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team relinquished four of the six singles points on Sunday as the Lady Tigers fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide, 4-3, in a close Southeastern Conference match at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“Once again, we lost an extremely close, hard-fought match,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “If we could have come up with a few more shots here and there, then we would have come out as the victors, but Alabama is a talented team and they deserved to win. We are gradually beginning to gain confidence and we just need to get prepared for a good Vanderbilt team on Friday.”
With the loss, the Lady Tigers dropped to an overall record of 8-8 on the season and an 0-6 conference record. Alabama improved to a 12-4 overall mark and evened its SEC record at 3-3 this season. LSU will return to action on Friday against No. 4-ranked Vanderbilt at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
The Crimson Tide clinched Sunday’s victory by earning four of the six singles points. Alabama pulled off early wins on courts No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 to take its first lead of the contest at 3-2. In the No. 4 singles match, the Crimson Tide’s Sophie Cremers secured the Alabama win with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over LSU’s Amanda Mang.
LSU jumped out to a promising 1-0 lead in the contest by winning the doubles point. The Lady Tigers’ duo of Tami Botts and Amy McIlhaney dropped Alabama’s pair of Jenny Ketchum and Cremers, 8-4, on court No. 2, before LSU’s tandem of Bruna Colosio and Rocio Fantilli clinched the point with a vital 8-6 win on court No. 1.
In singles play, the Lady Tigers earned a quick 2-0 overall lead as three-time All-American, Colosio, baffled Alabama’s Selia Mathew, 6-0, 6-0, on court No. 1. With the win, the 2001 SEC Player of the Year upped her overall record to 9-7 on the season.
Fantilli, LSU’s determined sophomore from Puerto Madryn, Argentina, notched the Lady Tigers’ third point of the afternoon on court No. 3. In a third-set super tiebreaker, Fantilli pulled off a 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 victory over Alabama’s Millie Begovic.
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Friday as the Lady Tigers continue their rigorous SEC schedule against the fourth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores at 4 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
Alabama 4, LSU 3
Doubles
1. Colosio/Fantilli (LSU) def. Begovic/Chang (UA), 8-6*
2. Botts/McIlhaney (LSU) def. Ketchum/Cremers (UA), 8-4
3. Mathew/Baum (UA) def. Budd/Mang (LSU), 8-1
Singles
1. Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. Selia Mathew (UA), 6-0, 6-0
2. Jenny Ketchum (UA) def. Tami Botts (LSU), 6-1, 6-3
3. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Millie Begovic (UA), 6-3, 5-7, 10-6
4. Sophie Cremers (UA) def. Amanda Mang (LSU), 6-1, 7-5*
5. Weyli Chang (UA) def. Amy McIlhaney (LSU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Becca Baum (UA) def. Perri Budd (LSU), 6-3, 6-1
Overall Records: Alabama 12-4 (3-3), LSU 8-8 (0-6)