BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team handed the Ohio State Buckeyes their third loss of the 2003 dual-match season on Sunday as the resurgent Lady Tigers rallied for a 5-2 win at home at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“This was a big win for us,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “I thought that we really came out and fought hard today. We played some really solid tennis in the doubles competition and I thought that we played okay in singles. I was really impressed with how we fought and the amount of effort that we competed with.”
With the win, LSU improved to an overall record of 8-8 on the season and upped its non-conference mark to 7-3. The victory also snapped Ohio State’s three-match winning streak and dropped the Buckeyes’ overall record to 9-3 in dual play.
LSU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in Sunday’s match as the Lady Tigers swept the doubles competition and picked up a quick 6-2, 6-2 win from freshman Marina Chiarelli on court No. 4. Chiarelli, who hails from Curitiba, Brazil, dropped Ohio State’s Jackie Leskovar in straight sets and improved to 15-11 in singles play.
After the Buckeyes’ 59th-ranked Sadhaf Perez earned a victory on court No. 1, LSU’s Amanda Mang and Camila Caliari finished off their Ohio State counterparts in straight sets to clinch the Lady Tiger win.
Mang, who’s been forced to sit out the last couple of matches due to an injury, returned to the starting lineup on Sunday and registered a critical 6-4, 6-3 win over Lyndsay Williams on court No. 3. With the win, the New Orleans native upped her overall record to 13-13 on the season and moved to 7-4 while playing in the No. 3 singles slot.
“I think that having Amanda back in the lineup really gave us an added boost today,” Minnis said. “She has a lot of experience, she’s been successful and I think that really helps our team. Having her back in the lineup also helped us because we were able to push everybody back down in the lineup and that contributed to a lot of our success in singles.”
The Lady Tigers’ Caliari clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-4 win on court No. 6 over Ohio State’s Meaghan Colville. The victory improved Caliari’s overall record to 11-7 and upped her team-leading dual-match record to 10-5 on the season.
LSU’s Daysi Espinal added the fifth point of the afternoon, as the native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, recovered from a first-set deficit to defeat Emily DeCamilla, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, on court No. 5. Espinal owns an impressive 15-9 overall record this season.
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Friday, March 28, as the Lady Tigers travel to Nashville, Tenn., for a Southeastern Conference matchup with the 11th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores at 2:30 p.m.
LSU (8-8) def. Ohio State (9-3), 5-2
Doubles
1. Fantilli/Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Pervez/Williams (OSU), 9-8(6)
2. Ferguson/Mang (LSU) def. Fisk/Leskovar (OSU), 8-5
3. Caliari/Espinal (LSU) def. Adams/Meaghan Colville (OSU), 8-4
– – Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. #59 Sadhaf Perez (OSU) def. Rocio Fantilli (LSU), 6-2, 6-2
2. Erica Fisk (OSU) def. Jessica Ferguson (LSU), 7-6(4), 6-3
3. Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Lyndsay Williams (OSU), 6-4, 6-3
4. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Jackie Leskovar (OSU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Emily DeCamilla (OSU), 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
6. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Meaghan Colville (OSU), 6-3, 6-4
– – Order of Finish: 4, 1, 3, 6, 2, 5