BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team swept both Southern, 6-0, and Louisiana-Monroe, 7-0, on Saturday to improve its dual-match record to 4-0 before hosting its arch-rival Florida State at noon on Sunday at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We picked up some good wins today,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “Southern has been steadily improving over the past couple of years and Louisiana-Monroe has loads of talent. I think that we played well, but we still have a huge match coming up against Florida State tomorrow.”
LSU used straight-set victories in all six singles matches to defeat Southern in the opening match of Saturday’s doubleheader. The Lady Tigers’ freshmen continued to compete at a high level as Camila Caliari, Daysi Espinal and Marina Chiarelli breezed by their Lady Jaguar counterparts on courts No. 3-6.
On court No. 1, LSU’s Jessica Ferguson topped Southern’s talented Arianna Marshall, 6-0, 7-6(3), while junior Rocio Fantilli and sophomore Amanda Mang earned wins of 6-0, 6-1, and 6-0, 6-2, respectively on courts No. 2 and 3.
“I’ve really been impressed with how we’ve been playing as a team,” Minnis said. “We are extremely young and still have a lot of things to learn, but I’m pleased with our progress so far. Despite our improvement, I think that tomorrow’s match against Florida State will be a good measuring stick for us.”
Against Louisiana-Monroe in the afternoon match, the Lady Tigers earned an early 1-0 advantage in the contest by sweeping all three of the doubles matches. LSU then finished off the Indians with five, straight-set victories in singles play including a dominant victory by Fantilli on court No. 2, 6-3, 6-1.
LSU’s Ferguson and Louisiana-Monroe’s Matilde Taborda competed in the match of the day on Saturday as the contest ended in a thrilling, third-set super tiebreaker. Ferguson won the first set 7-6(3), then fell in the second frame 6-3, before coming alive to drill Taborda 10-1 in the super tiebreaker.
The LSU women’s tennis team will look to improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season on Sunday, as the Lady Tigers host the Florida State Lady Seminoles at noon at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium. Admission is free to all LSU home tennis matches.
LSU def. Southern, 6-0
Doubles
Were not played
Singles
1. Jessica Ferguson (LSU) def. Arianna Marshall (SU), 6-0, 7-6(3)
2. #116 Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Isoke Perry (SU), 6-0, 6-1
3. Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Tania Hicks (SU), 6-0, 6-2
4. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Patricia Zapata (SU), 6-1, 6-0
5. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Kelli Nabors (SU), 6-0, 6-1
6. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Sarah Johnson (SU), 6-0, 6-0
LSU def. Louisiana-Monroe, 7-0
Doubles
1. #60 Fantilli/Seaman (LSU) def. Taborda/Anna Jenyk (ULM), 8-1
2. Ferguson/Mang (LSU) def. Perez/Espinal (ULM), 8-3
3. Caliari/Chiarelli (LSU) def. Bucewicz/Ostrovski (ULM), 8-6
Singles
1. Jessica Ferguson (LSU) def. Matilde Taborda (ULM), 7-6(3), 3-6, 10-1
2. #116 Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Veronica Perez (ULM), 6-3, 6-1
3. Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Kelly Bucewicz (ULM), 6-3, 7-5
4. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Natalya Ostrovska (ULM), 6-2, 6-0
5. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Zamambo Mchize (ULM), 6-1, 6-2
6. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Diana Espinal (ULM), 6-2, 6-0
LSU’s Overall Record: 4-0