COLUMBIA, S.C. — The LSU women’s tennis team is set for its first-round match of the 2002 Southeastern Conference Tournament on Thursday, as the Lady Tigers face the 17th-ranked Kentucky Lady Wildcats at 2 p.m. in Columbia, S.C.
“The fact that we’ve beaten this team already this season should give us some extra confidence,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “But we can’t take anything for granted with this team. Kentucky is a very talented team and they are definitely capable of playing better than they did when we first faced them.”
LSU earned its biggest upset of the season against Kentucky earlier in the season at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium in Baton Rouge. At the time, Kentucky was the 13th-ranked team in the nation and the Lady Tigers reeled off four-straight wins in singles play to overcome a three-point deficit for the 4-3 victory.
The Lady Tigers head into the first round of the SEC Tournament with a bit of momentum after sweeping Arkansas, 7-0, on Sunday. With the commanding victory, LSU upped its overall record on the season to 12-11 and improved its SEC mark to 3-8. The Lady Tigers also defeated Mississippi State, 7-0, on the road in Starkville, Miss.
Kentucky comes into Thursday’s match with a 15-7 overall record on the season and a 5-6 mark against conference opponents. The injury-plagued Lady Wildcats lost three of their final four SEC matches to close out the season.
After falling to LSU, Kentucky defeated Alabama, 7-0, then dropped contests to both Auburn, 4-3, and sixth-ranked Vanderbilt, 7-0.
“It would seem as if Kentucky has been struggling lately, but they’ve just been playing some very good teams,” Minnis said. “Auburn’s been playing some extremely hot tennis as of late and Vanderbilt is one of the best teams in the nation. We can’t head into Thursday thinking that Kentucky is going to be down just because they lost a couple matches lately.”
The all-time series record between LSU and Kentucky is currently knotted at 11-11. The Lady Tigers snapped Kentucky’s two-match winning streak earlier this season, but the Cats are 2-0 against LSU in SEC Tournament play.
Kentucky defeated the Lady Tigers, 5-2, at home in Lexington, Ky., in 1998 and edged LSU, 5-4, during the 1993 season.
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Thursday, as the Lady Tigers challenge the 17th-ranked Kentucky in the opening round of the SEC Tournament at 2 p.m. in Columbia, S.C.