TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The LSU women’s tennis team failed to capitalize on a number of chances in its Southeastern Conference opener on Friday as the Lady Tigers lost three third-set tiebreakers in a 7-0 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“We’re young and inexperienced right now and it showed out there today,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “This was the first SEC competition for a number of our players and they weren’t ready for the level of intensity that comes with this conference. The SEC is the best conference in the nation and every match is going to be tough.”
With the loss, LSU dropped to 6-4 on the season and began SEC play with a defeat for the second year in a row. Last year, the Lady Tigers were knocked off by South Carolina, 6-1, in their conference opener.
Alabama (9-1, 1-0) took an early 1-0 lead in the Friday’s contest by sweeping the doubles competition. On court No. 3, the Crimson Tide’s tandem of Nathalie Koppelle and Melissa Minor clinched the first point of the match by defeating LSU’s combination of Daysi Espinal and Camila Caliari, 8-4.
“The doubles point is always very important in collegiate tennis,” Minnis said. “A lot of times it could decide the outcome of the match and I think that when we lost it today, we kind of lost some of our focus. Right now, we just need to regroup and get ready for Auburn on Sunday.”
In singles play, Alabama rallied for three straight-set victories on courts No. 1, No. 5 and No. 2 to win the match. The Crimson Tide recorded its fourth-consecutive win on Friday after coming into its SEC opener with victories over Houston, 7-0, West Virginia, 6-1, and Florida State, 4-3.
Despite falling behind early 4-0, LSU continued to play hard and had a chance to win all three of the final singles matches.
The Lady Tigers’ trio comprised of Caliari, Marina Chiarelli and Amanda Mang each rebounded from first-set deficits to win the second frame, but fell in third-set super tiebreakers. Caliari fell to Koppelle, 6-2, 4-6, 1-0(8), on court No. 6, while Chiarelli was defeated in the No. 4 singles match by Marie-France Lord-Andrade, 6-1, 4-6, 1-0(6) and Mang lost to Robin Stephensen, 7-6(4), 1-6, 1-0(5), on court No. 3.
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Sunday as the Lady Tigers remain on the road and face off with Auburn at noon in another SEC Western Division showdown.
No. 32 Alabama 7
No. 65 LSU- 0
Doubles
1. No. 33 Begovic/Stephenson (UA) def. Fantilli/Lauren Seaman (LSU) 8-6
2. Cremers/Bentley (UA) def. Ferguson/Mang (LSU) 8-6
3. Koppelle/Melissa Minor (UA) def. Espinal/Caliari (LSU) 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. No. 71 Millie Begovic (UA) def. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Sophie Cremers (UA) def. Jessica Ferguson (LSU) 6-4, 6-3*
3. Robin Stephenson (UA) def. Amanda Mang (LSU) 7-6, 1-6, 10-5#
4. Marie-France Lord-Andrade (UA) def. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) 6-1, 4-6, 10-6#
5. Ashley Bentley (UA) def. Daysi Espinal (LSU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Nathalie Koppelle (UA) def. Camila Caliari (LSU) 6-2, 4-6, 10-8#
* clinched match
# 10-point tie-breaker played in place of third set
Order of finish: 1, 5, 2, 3, 4, 6