COLUMBUS, Ohio — LSU women’s tennis players, Rocio Fantilli and Marina Chiarelli, advanced to the round of 16 of the Ohio State Prince Cup on Friday, as the Tigers competed in their 2002-03 season-opening tournament here in Columbus, Ohio.
“I was pleased with how everybody played today,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “Both Rocio and Marina looked very good out there and despite some losses, I felt that everybody on our team played with high intensity. We saw some things that we need to improve on before the season starts, but we played well considering this was our first tournament.”
Chiarelli, LSU’s highly-touted freshman from Curitiba, Brazil, recorded the first two victories of her collegiate career on Friday as she began the fall season 2-0. In the first round, she slipped by Notre Dame’s Emily Neighbours, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (8), before defeating Ohio State’s Emily DeCamilla, 6-4,7-5, in second-round action.
The Tigers’ Fantilli entered the three-day event as a 5-8 seed and received a first-round bye on Friday. In her only match of the day, the powerful junior breezed by Ohio State’s hometown-favorite Lindsay Bryan, 6-2, 6-1, in the second round. Fantilli finished the 2002 dual season with an impressive 5-2 record at the No. 2 singles position.
LSU’s Amanda Mang and Lauren Seaman also recorded first-round wins at the OSU/Prince Cup. Mang defeated Notre Dame’s Maggie Donahue, 6-4, 6-3, while Seaman upended Eastern Michigan’s Kendra Clark. Seaman, the Tigers’ true freshman from Metairie, outlasted Clark in a three-set marathon, 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (5).
“I liked the amount of toughness that our girls showed out there,” Minnis said. “We won a number of three-set matches today, and it seemed as if our girls would never give up. That’s a good thing for a team to have, especially this early in the season.”
Play will resume in the 2002 Ohio State Prince Cup at 9 a.m. on Saturday with the singles round of 16 at the Stickney Tennis Center here in Columbus, Ohio.
2002 OSU/Prince Cup
Singles Main Draw
(tournament seed preceding name)
First Round
Kelly Nelson (ND) def. Erin McGill (LSU) 6-0, 6-1
Izabela Mijic (BU) def. Bonnie White (LSU) 6-0, 6-1
Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Maggie Donahue (ND) 6-4, 6-3
Leigh Ann Merryman (PSU) def. Daysi Espinal (LSU) 7-5, 6-2
Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Emily Neighbours (ND) 6-2, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (8)
#5-8 Rocio Fantilli (LSU) BYE
Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Kendra Clark (EMU) 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (5)
Second Round
Brooke Peyton (MU) def. Amanda Mang (LSU) 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (5)
Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Emily DeCamilla (OSU) 6-4,7-5
#5-8 Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Lindsay Bryan (OSU) 6-2, 6-1
#2 Erica Fisk (OSU) def. Lauren Seaman (LSU) 6-1, 6-1
Back Draw Singles
April Uy (PSU) def. Erin McGill (LSU) default
Lindsey Adams (OSU) def. Bonnie White (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Nancy Wiegand (MU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles Main Draw
First Round
Mang/Chiarelli (LSU) def. Uy (PSU)/Bryan (OSU) 8-6
Fantilli/Seaman (LSU) BYE
Peyton/Zimpfer (MU) def. White/Espinal (LSU) 8-4
Second Round
Salas/Stastny (ND) def. Mang/Chiarelli (LSU) 8-2
Fantilli/Seaman (LSU) def. Colville/DeCamilla (OSU) 8-1
Doubles Back Draw
L. Donohue/Nelson (ND) def. White/Espinal (LSU) 8-1