FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The LSU women’s tennis team will attempt to complete its regular-season Southeastern Conference schedule with a third-straight win on Saturday as the Lady Tigers face the Arkansas Lady ‘Backs at 1 p.m. in Fayetteville, Ark.
“A win in this match would be huge for us,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “We lost a tough one against Purdue on Wednesday, but I feel that a win against Arkansas would give us some momentum heading into the SEC Tournament. It’s not going to come easy though, because Arkansas is a good, young team and they have a lot of talent.”
LSU heads into Saturday’s SEC Western Division rivalry with an overall record of 11-11 on the season and a 3-7 mark in conference play.
After opening SEC competition with a 1-7 record, the Lady Tigers have reeled off two straight wins and have secured a second-place finish in the Western Division. Last week, LSU recorded a weekend SEC sweep at home against Mississippi State, 5-2, and Ole Miss, 4-3.
The Alabama Crimson Tide has already clinched the SEC West title after posting a 5-5 mark against conference opponents.
Arkansas enters Saturday’s SEC finale with an 8-12 overall record on the season and an 0-10 mark versus conference rivals. With a loss against LSU, the Lady ‘Backs would post their second-consecutive winless season in SEC play. Arkansas finished the 2002 campaign with an 0-11 conference record.
The Lady ‘Backs are in the midst of a five-match losing streak in which they dropped contests against Cal Poly-SLO, 5-2, Kentucky, 6-1, Vanderbilt, 7-0, Ole Miss, 6-1, and the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs, 4-1. Arkansas registered its latest win of the season on March 20, against Westmont, 7-0.
“They (Arkansas) have been struggling a little bit lately, but they are still a very dangerous team,” Minnis said. “They are not the most experienced team in the nation, but they beat a very good Tulane team earlier this season and they have a lot of talent. We better hope that we play a lot better than we did against Purdue, or else we’ll be in trouble.”
LSU owns a 12-9 all-time record against the Lady ‘Backs and has been victorious in the previous three meetings. In the 2000 SEC Tournament held in Oxford, Miss., the Lady Tigers defeated Arkansas, 5-2, before recording a 5-2 win during the 2001 season and earning a 7-0 sweep a year ago.
The LSU women’s tennis team will attempt to close out its 2003 SEC season with a three-match winning streak on Saturday as the Lady Tigers face off with the Arkansas Lady ‘Backs at 1 p.m. in Fayetteville, Ark.