BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team extended its winning streak to 36 consecutive matches against in-state opponents on Wednesday, as the Lady Tigers held off the Tulane Green Wave 5-2 at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“It was a very close match out there today,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “You have to give Tulane some credit for how well they played today, and we didn’t really play our best tennis. The big thing was that we were able to come up with the victory. Now, we just have to practice well and get ready for a good Oregon team on Saturday.”
With LSU (11-10) leading Wednesday’s match 3-2, the Lady Tigers’ Tami Botts clinched the non-conference victory by defeating Anna Saaibi, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, on court No. 3. LSU’s senior from Ashland, Ore., upped her overall record on the season to 20-12 with the win.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. LSU notched the vital point as the 34th-ranked combination of Bruna Colosio and Rocio Fantilli earned an 8-3 win on court No. 1 and the Lady Tiger duo of Tami Botts and Amy McIlhaney dropped Tulane’s Julie Morris and Anna Saaibi, 8-4, on court No. 3.
After falling behind in the contest 1-0, Tulane (10-10) quickly evened the score at 1-1 with a singles win on court No. 5 where Lucy Wood knocked off LSU’s Amy McIlhaney, 6-0, 6-0. The loss snapped McIlhaney’s two-match winning streak and dropped her record on the season to 19-15.
LSU’s 65th-ranked Colosio won her eighth-consecutive singles match on Wednesday by defeating the Green Wave’s No. 83-ranked Morris on court No. 1, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2). Colosio, the 2001 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, overcame a 5-2 deficit in the third set to win the contest and to increase her record to 14-7.
Amanda Mang and Fantilli notched two points for the Lady Tigers with straight-set wins in singles play. Mang, LSU’s talented freshman from New Orleans, knocked off Tulane’s Maiko Cook, 6-3, 6-2, on court No. 4, while Fantilli overpowered Joyce Bergman on court No. 2, 6-4, 6-4.
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. as the Lady Tigers host the Oregon Lady Ducks in their final non-conference matchup at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
LSU 5, Tulane 2
Doubles
1. #34 Colosio/Fantilli (LSU) def. Bergman/Maria Ivanov (TU), 8-3
2. Botts/McIlhaney (LSU) def. Morris Saaibi (TU), 8-4*
3. Wood/Axsater (TU) def. Budd/Mang (LSU), 9-7
Singles 1. #65 Bruna Colosio (LSU) def. #83 Julie Morris (TU), 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2)
2. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Joyce Bergman (TU), 6-4, 6-4
3. Tami Botts (LSU) def. Anna Saaibi (TU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Maiko Cook (TU), 6-3, 6-2
5. Lucy Wood (TU) def. Amy McIlhaney (LSU), 6-0, 6-0
6. Anneli Axsater (TU) def. Perri Budd (LSU), 7-6(5), 6-4
Overall Records: LSU 11-10, Tulane 10-10