BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 24 South Carolina on Friday afternoon at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium in a Southeastern Conference match in Baton Rouge.
The Lady Tigers opened the match by winning the doubles competition. LSU’s combination of Daysi Espinal and Camila Caliari clinched the victory on court No. 3, 8-2, to give LSU the early one-point advantage over the Gamecock’s combo of Catherine Brown and Justine Walsh.
In singles action, South Carolina won five of six sets with Walsh defeating Caliari on court No. 6 to clinch the match by a score of 7-5. Walsh won the first set by a count of 6-3. The Gamecocks’ No. 1 player, Kathy Boyanovich, beat LSU’s No. 1, Rocio Fantilli, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. The Lady Tigers’ No. 2 Amanda Mang lost to Jodi Kenoyer, 6-2, 6-2 on court No. 3.
South Carolina’s Danielle Wiggins beat LSU’s Jessica Ferguson in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0 on court No. 2. The Gamecocks’ Meda Wojdylo and LSU’s Marina Chiarelli played to three sets before Wojdylo held off Chiarelli, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. LSU’s victory in singles came on court No. 5 as the freshman Espinal defeated Brown by scores of 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.
“South Carolina played very well today, it is just that simple,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “We won the doubles, which is good, but we just need to play with more consistency and keep our intensity up.”
LSU dropped to 7-6 overall on the season and 1-2 in SEC action while South Carolina improved to 7-1 and 3-0 in the SEC. The Lady Tigers will next face No. 1 Florida on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Robinson Tennis Stadium in Baton Rouge.
South Carolina (7-1, 3-0) def. LSU (7-6, 1-2), 5-2
March 7, 2003 – Baton Rouge, La.
Doubles
1. Fantilli/Seaman (LSU) def. Boyanovich/Wojdylo (S.C.), 8-4
2. Kenoyer/Wiggins (S.C.) def. Ferguson/Mang (LSU), 8-2
3. Caliari/Espinal (LSU) def. Brown/Walsh (S.C.), 8-2
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
Singles
1. Boyanovich (S.C.) def. Fantilli (LSU), 6-3, 6-2
2. Kenoyer (S.C.) def. Mang (LSU), 6-2, 6-2
3. Wiggins (S.C.) def. Ferguson (LSU), 6-1, 6-0
4. Wojdylo (S.C.) def. Chiarelli (LSU), 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
5. Espinal (LSU) def. Brown (S.C.), 6-2, 2-6, 6-0
6. Walsh (S.C.) def. Caliari (LSU), 6-3, 7-5*
*clinched match
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1, 5, 4, 6