BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team dropped its first contest of the 2003 dual-match season on Sunday as the Lady Tigers were edged out by the Florida State Seminoles, 4-3, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“I was extremely impressed with how our freshmen played at the bottom of the order,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “They showed a lot of heart and determination out there today and we just need to get more consistent at the top, but Florida State is a very talented team and they are going to have a lot of success this season.”
With the loss, LSU fell to an overall record of 4-1 on the season and lost its second-consecutive contest versus Florida State. In 2002, the Lady Tigers were defeated by an identical 4-3 score against the scrappy Seminoles in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida State (5-1) took an early 1-0 lead in Sunday’s non-conference match by winning the vital doubles point to start the competition.
On court No. 1, the Seminoles’ doubles combination of Anca Dumitrescu and Daniela Gheorghe defeated LSU’s tandem of Rocio Fantilli and Lauren Seaman, 8-2, while the Lady Tigers’ pair of Jessica Ferguson and Amanda Mang rallied from behind to record a 9-7 victory on court No. 2.
With the doubles point seemingly hanging in the balance, Florida State’s No. 3 doubles squad of Brooke Cordell and Amberly Tantee held off an LSU rally by freshmen Camila Caliari and Daysi Espinal to clinch the doubles point, 8-6. The loss proved to be Caliari/Espinal’s first dual defeat of the 2003 campaign.
In singles play, Florida State maintained its early momentum and built an early 3-0 lead in the match with straight-set victories on courts No. 2 and No. 3. The Seminoles then put LSU away with a win on court No. 1 where Florida State’s Dumitrescu overpowered the Lady Tigers’ Fantilli, 6-0, 6-2.
With the victory, the Seminoles evened the all-time series record with LSU at six wins apiece.
LSU’s three singles victories came from the bottom of the order on courts No. 4-6. On court No. 5, Espinal breezed by Florida State’s Cordell, 6-1, 6-1, while the Lady Tigers’ Marina Chiarelli and Caliari used third-set super tiebreakers to outlast their Seminole counterparts. Chiarelli dropped Gheorghe, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0(7), on court No. 4 and Caliari came from behind to knock off Alina Mihailescu, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(2).
“We’re just going to have to bounce back from this loss and continue to get better through practice and working out,” Minnis said. “The season is still very young and we have a lot of maturing to do. Right now we just need to concentrate on playing one match at a time and that is Houston on Saturday.”
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Saturday, Feb. 8, as the Lady Tigers hit the road for the first team this season to face off against the Houston Cougars at 11. a.m. in Houston, Texas.
Florida State def. LSU, 4-3
Doubles
1. Dumitrescu/Gheorge (FSU) def. Fantilli/Seaman (LSU), 8-2
2. Ferguson/Mang (LSU) def. Denny/Moldovan (FSU), 9-7
3. Cordell/Amberly Tantee (FSU) def. Caliari/Espinal (LSU), 8-6
Singles
1. Anca Dumitrescu (FSU) def. Rocio Fantilli (LSU), 6-0, 6-2
2. Mihaela Moldovan (FSU) def. Jessica Ferguson (LSU), 6-1, 6-2
3. Christina Denny (FSU) def. Amanda Mang (LSU), 6-0, 6-0
4. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Daniela Gheorghe (FSU), 7-5, 4-6, 1-0(7)
5. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Brooke Cordell (FSU), 6-1, 6-1
6. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Alina Mihailescu (FSU), 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(2)
Overall Records: LSU 4-1, Florida State 5-1