LEXINGTON, Ky. — The LSU women’s tennis team will attempt to knock off the 15th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats for a second-consecutive season on Sunday as the Lady Tigers look to avoid a weekend sweep at noon at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center in Lexington, Ky.
“Last season, we were able to pick up a huge win against Kentucky and I think that our team remembers what a boost it gave us,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “Kentucky has a very good team again this season and they will definitely have an advantage by playing at home. We just need to come out and play solid tennis, and not try to force any points.”
LSU heads into Sunday’s SEC cross-divisional contest with an overall record of 8-9 on the season and a 1-6 mark against conference opponents.
Five of the Lady Tigers’ six conference losses have come against foes currently ranked among the top-20 teams in the nation. LSU has been defeated in hard-fought conference matches by No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 20 Alabama and the 13th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores on Friday.
“We’ve played one of the nation’s toughest schedules this season,” Minnis said. “All of our conference losses have come against top-ranked opponents and we’ve played a very tough non-conference schedule. Playing the hard schedule will help us in the long run, because we’ll be used to facing tough opponents in every match.”
Kentucky enters Sunday’s contest with an overall record of 15-6 on the season and a 5-2 mark versus SEC rivals. On Friday, the Wildcats improved to a 9-3 home record at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center by earning a decisive 6-1 victory over the Arkansas Lady’Backs.
In last season’s regular season matchup between the two SEC rivals, LSU used a clutch 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory from Amanda Mang to knock off the 13th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in dramatic fashion as the Lady Tigers overcame a three-point deficit to upset the Cats, 4-3, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
Kentucky would later avenge the Lady Tigers’ upset victory by handily defeating LSU, 4-1, in the opening round of the 2002 SEC Tournament. With the win, Kentucky took a slim 12-11 lead in the all-time series.
The LSU women’s tennis team will attempt to defeat its highest ranked opponent of the 2003 dual-match season on Sunday as the Lady Tigers face off with the 15th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats at noon at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center in Lexington, Ky.