NEW ORLEANS — The LSU women’s tennis team rallied from a 3-1 deficit in singles play to defeat the Tulane Green Wave, 4-3, on Wednesday as the Lady Tigers extended their winning streak to 41-straight matches against in-state rivals at the Goldring Tennis Center in New Orleans.
“This was a huge win for our team and it should really give us a huge boost heading into a big SEC weekend,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “Our team is very young, but they showed a tremendous amount of resolve today and they never gave up. I’m really proud of how they competed in a tough environment on the road.”
With the overall score of the in-state rivalry knotted at 3-3, LSU’s Marina Chiarelli capped the come-from-behind victory by earning the match-clinching win on court No. 3 over the Green Wave’s 73rd-ranked Erika Valdez, 7-6(4), 6-3. The victory upped Chiarelli’s overall record on the season to 16-13 and proved to be the first win of her career over a top-100 ranked opponent.
LSU improved to 9-10 on the season and earned its 10th-consecutive victory over the Green Wave. The last time that the Tigers were defeated by Tulane was in 1994. The 6-3 loss also marked the last time that LSU fell prey to an in-state opponent.
Tulane fell to an overall record of 13-4 on the season and dropped its second-straight contest. The Green Wave was also defeated by 16th-ranked South Alabama, 5-2, on Sunday.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the matchup as they clinched the critical doubles point with victories on courts Nos. 1 and 2.
LSU’s combination of Rocio Fantilli and Lauren Seaman knocked off its second top-10 ranked opponent in a week on Wednesday as the Lady Tiger pair beat the ninth-ranked duo of Jenny Kuhn and Julie Smekodub, 9-7. On court No. 2, LSU’s Amanda Mang and Jessica Ferguson topped the Green Wave’s Nancy Kockott and Maria Ivanov, 8-6.
After Tulane earned three-straight wins in the singles competition, the Lady Tigers completed its comeback by receiving clutch wins from freshmen Daysi Espinal, Lauren Seaman and Chiarelli. Espinal defeated Ivanov on court No. 4, 6-4, 6-2, while Seaman also registered a straight-set victory over Tulane’s Kockott, 6-3, 6-4, in the No. 6 singles matchup.
“Hopefully, we’ll use this win as a stepping stone for the rest of the season,” Minnis said. “It was the biggest win of our season so far, but we can’t stop here. We have a tough SEC weekend coming up and we need to continue to practice hard in order to get ready for it.”
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Friday, April 4, as the Lady Tigers host the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs in a critical Southeastern Conference Western Division matchup at 2 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
Admission is free to all LSU home tennis matches and refreshments will be provided by the Lady Tiger Tennis Athletic Foundation.
–agate to follow–
LSU (9-10) def. Tulane (13-4), 4-3
Doubles
1. Fantilli/Seaman (LSU) def. #9 Kuhn/Smekodub (TU), 9-7
2. Mang/Ferguson (LSU) def. Kockott/Ivanov (TU), 8-6
3. Saaibi/Valdes (TU) def. Caliari/Espinal (LSU), 8-4
Singles
1. #27 Julie Smekodub (TU) def. Rocio Fantilli (LSU), 6-1, 6-2
2. #44 Jenny Kuhn (TU) def. Jessica Ferguson (LSU), 6-0, 6-4
3. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. #71 Erika Valdes (TU), 7-6(4), 6-3
4. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Maria Ivanov (TU), 6-4, 6-2
5. Ana Saaibi (TU) def. Camila Caliari (LSU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Nancy Kockott (TU), 6-3, 6-4