KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The LSU women’s tennis team fell a pair of tiebreakers away from advancing to the quarterfinal round of the 2003 Southeastern Conference Tournament on Thursday as the Lady Tigers fell to the Ole Miss Lady Rebels, 4-3, in heartbreaking fashion here in Knoxville, Tenn.
“This was an extremely tough loss for our team,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “We played hard and we had our chances to get the victory, but we just couldn’t close it out. I have to give a lot of credit to Ole Miss, because they came through in the clutch and they were able to get the job done.”
With the overall score of Thursday’s contest knotted at 3-3, Ole Miss’ Karen Harboe overcame a first-set deficit to record the match-clinching victory over the Lady Tigers’ Jessica Ferguson on court No. 2. The crucial match was settled in the third set, 7-5, after the first two sets ended in tiebreakers. Harboe defeated Ferguson, 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 7-5.
Ole Miss (8-13) won its fourth match of the season against a conference opponent on Thursday and advanced to the quarterfinal round of competition where the Lady Rebels will face the top-seeded and second-ranked Florida Gators.
After winning the SEC title, Florida earned a bye and automatically qualified for the quarterfinal round of competition.
LSU (12-12) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on Thursday as the Lady Tigers picked up wins on courts Nos. 2 and 3 to secure the critical doubles point.
After losing the No. 1 doubles match, 8-2, LSU’s combination of Ferguson and Marina Chiarelli, as well as Camila Caliari and Daysi Espinal registered come-from-behind victories to claim the doubles point. Ferguson and Chiarelli knocked off Ole Miss’ duo of Audra Adams and Sabrina Peppl, 9-8(2), on court No. 2 while Caliari and Espinal dropped the Rebels’ Harboe and Florencia Basile, 9-8(3), in the No. 3 doubles contest.
“I thought that we did a fantastic job of fighting back in the doubles point,” Minnis said. “We did a very good job of not giving up, but then I thought that we came out and played a little bit too complacently in singles. All in all, I’m proud of this team. They are extremely young and I think that we gained some valuable experience from all of this.”
In singles play, Ole Miss quicky evened the score at 1-1 as the Lady Rebels’ 21st-ranked Radu downed Fantilli, 6-4, 6-0, on court No. 1. Chiarelli, LSU’s highly-touted freshman from Curitiba, Brazil, helped the Lady Tigers regain the lead by defeating Ole Miss’ Basile, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 3 singles match. With the win, Chiarelli improved to a team-high record of 20-14 on the season.
LSU’s Caliari picked up the Lady Tigers’ final point of the contest with a straight-set victory over Ole Miss’ Virginia Tomatis. The 6-4, 6-2 win on court No. 5 gave LSU a 3-2 advantage and improved Caliari’s overall record on the season to 15-11. The Lady Tiger freshman from Maringa, Brazil, owns a 14-9 mark in dual play.
“Well, it’s always tough to recover from a loss like this, but right now we just have to rebound from it as well as we can and get ready for the NCAA Tournament,” said Minnis. “Even with today’s loss, we’ve had a good season and I think that we could make some things happen in the tournament.”
The field of 64 for the 2003 NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament will be announced on Wednesday, April 30, at approximately 4 p.m. The show will be televised live on ESPN News.
2003 SEC Tournament
First Round, 2 p.m.
April 17, 2003
Knoxville, Tenn.
#9 Ole Miss def. #8 LSU, 4-3
Doubles
1. Radu/Tomatis (UM) def. #43 Fantilli/Seaman (LSU), 8-2
2. Chiarelli/Ferguson (LSU) vs. Adams/Peppl (UM), 9-8 (2) *
3. Caliari/Mang (LSU) def. Basile/Harboe (UM), 9-8 (3)
Doubles order of finish: 1,3,2
Singles
1. #21 Mira Radu (UM) def. Rocio Fantilli (LSU), 6-4, 6-0
2. Karem Harboe (UM) def. Jessica Ferguson (LSU), 6-7 (7), 7-6 (4), 7-5 **
3. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Florencia Basile (UM), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Sabrina Peppl (UM) def. Amanda Mang (LSU), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
5. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Virginia Tomatis (UM), 6-4, 6-2
6. Audra Adams (UM) def. Lauren Seaman (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
Singles order of finish: 1,3,4,5,6,2
* Clinched Doubles Point
** Clinched Match
2003 SEC Tournament Schedule
April 17-20, 2003
Knoxville, Tenn.
Match 1: #6 Alabama def. #11 Mississippi State, 4-1
Match 2: #7 South Carolina def. #10 Auburn, 4-1
Match 3: #9 Ole Miss def. #8 LSU, 4-3
Match 4: #5 Vanderbilt def. #12 Arkansas, 4-0
Quarterfinal Round
Match 5: #3 Kentucky def. #6 Alabama, 4-2
Match 6: #2 Georgia def. #7 South Carolina, 4-0
Match 7: #1 Florida def. #9 Ole Miss, 4-0
Match 8: #4 Tennessee def. #5 Vanderbilt, 4-1
Semifinal Round
Match 9: #3 Kentucky vs. #2 Georgia, 10 a.m.
Match 10: #1 Florida vs. #4 Tennessee, 2 p.m.
Final
Match 11: Match 9 winnner vs. Match 10 winner, 2 p.m.