BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team fell one point shy of knocking off the fifth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores on Sunday, as the Lady Tigers dropped a tough Southeastern Conference match, 4-3, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“I’ve got to give our kids a lot of credit, they’re fighting,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “They fought extremely hard today against one of the nation’s top teams. We played well, but there is no such thing as a moral victory. It will hopefully give us some confidence heading into Kentucky on Sunday.”
With Friday’s hard-fought loss, LSU dropped to an overall record of 8-9 on the season and fell to an 0-7 mark in conference play. The loss proved to be the Lady Tigers’ sixth of the season against a team ranked among the top 25 in the nation.
No. 5-ranked Vanderbilt improved to a 19-3 overall record on the season and upped its SEC record to 5-2. The Commodores’ two conference losses have come against No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Georgia. Vanderbilt heads to Fayetteville, Ark., to play Arkansas on Sunday.
LSU fell behind early in the match, 1-0, after the Commodores claimed the doubles point. Vanderbilt won handily on each of the three doubles courts to earn the early lead.
In singles play, the Lady Tigers earned two victories over ranked opponents and added a resounding win on court No. 2. LSU sophomore Rocio Fantilli defeated the Commodores’ Annie Menees in the No. 2 singles match, 6-4, 6-3, and cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 3-1.
Three-time All-American, Bruna Colosio, knocked off Vanderbilt’s seventh-ranked Sarah Riske on court No. 1 to earn the Lady Tigers’ third-and-final point of the contest. With the marathon 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4 victory, Colosio improved to an overall record of 10-7 on the season and increased her winning streak to four matches.
On court No. 4, LSU’s phenomenal freshman, Amanda Mang, recorded the first win of her promising career over a ranked opponent. Mang, a native of New Orleans, stunned Vanderbilt’s 80th-ranked Katie Blaszak, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5, on Friday. The win upped her overall record on the season to an impressive 19-13.
“Vanderbilt showed why they are the No. 5 team in the country today,” Minnis said. “When they had to come up with the shots, they did. If we’re going to get through this stretch and get back to where we’re used to being, we’re going to have to have some players step up and get some wins for us.”
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Sunday at noon as the Lady Tigers host the 13th-ranked Kentucky Lady Wildcats at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
#5 Vanderbilt 4, LSU 3
Doubles
1. #9 Riske/Tsoubanos (VU) def. Colosio/Fantilli (LSU), 8-4*
2. #37 Burson/Menees (VU) def. Botts/McIlhaney (LSU), 8-4
3. Falk/Miller (VU) def. Budd/Mang (LSU), 8-3
Singles
1. Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. #7 Sarah Riske (VU), 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4
2. Kate Burson (VU) def. Tami Botts (LSU), 6-4, 6-4*
3. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Annie Menees (VU), 6-4, 6-3
4. Amanda Mang (LSU) def. #80 Katie Blaszak (VU), 6-0, 4-6, 7-5
5. Aleke Tsoubanos (VU) def. Amy McIlhaney (LSU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Audra Falk (VU) def. Perri Budd (LSU), 6-1, 7-5
Overall Records: Vanderbilt 19-3, 5-2, LSU 8-9, 0-7