BATON ROUGE — The Oregon Lady Ducks reeled off four-straight singles wins to knock off the LSU women’s tennis team 5-2 on Saturday at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. The Lady Tigers will conclude their 2002 regular season on Sunday with a “Senior Day” match against Arkansas at 1 p.m.
“We looked like a totally different team out there today,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “We came out extremely flat in singles play and they jumped on us. They got ahead early on almost every court and we just couldn’t overcome it. Now, we just have to look past this loss and get ready for Arkansas tomorrow.”
With the loss, LSU fell to an overall record of 11-11 on the season and dropped to 9-3 against non-conference opponents. The Lady Tigers’ two previous non-conference losses occurred during the first month of the season against No. 19 Texas A&M, 4-3, and Florida State, 4-3.
Oregon upped its overall record to 11-9 on Sunday and extended its winning streak to four matches. The Lady Ducks have not lost a match since March 9 when they fell to No. 7-ranked UCLA, 7-0. Oregon heads to New Orleans for a contest against Tulane on Sunday at 9 a.m.
LSU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the contest behind the solid doubles play of its No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams.
The Lady Tigers’ combination of Tami Botts and Amy McIlhaney earned an 8-5 victory on court No. 2, while LSU’s 34th-ranked pair comprised of Bruna Colosio and Rocio Fantilli clinched secured the doubles point on court No. 1 with a 9-8(4) win. The tandem of Colosio and Fantilli is 12-7 at the No. 1 doubles position this season.
In singles play, Oregon rallied to win four matches in straight sets. The Lady Ducks’ Janice Nyland recorded the clinching victory on court No. 3 against LSU’s Botts, 7-6(2), 6-4.
LSU’s Fantilli added the Lady Tigers’ lone singles win on Saturday. LSU’s hard-hitting sophomore from Puerto Madryn, Argentina, knocked off Oregon’s Monika Gieczys on court No. 2, 7-5. With the victory, Fantilli won her second-straight singles match and improved her overall record on the season to 15-21.
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Sunday as the Lady Tigers host the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks at 1 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. LSU’s four seniors will be honored in a special “Senior Day” presentation beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Oregon 5, LSU 2
Doubles
1. #34 Colosio/Fantilli (LSU) def. Mendiburu/Nagle (UO), 9-8(4)
2. Botts/McIlhaney (LSU) def. Panova/Gieczys (UO), 8-5
3. Nyland/Ester Bak (UO) def. Budd/Mang (LSU), 8-5
Singles
1. Daria Panova (UO) def. #65 Bruna Colosio (LSU), 6-2, 6-4
2. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Monika Giecyzs (UO), 6-2, 7-5
3. Janice Nyland (UO) def. Tami Botts (LSU), 7-6(2), 6-4
4. Vickie Gunnarsson (UO) def. Amanda Mang (LSU), 7-5, 3-6, 10-8
5. Devina Mendiburu (UO) def. Amy McIlhaney (LSU), 6-3, 6-2
6. Courtney Nagle (UO) def. Perri Budd (LSU), 6-2, 7-6(3)