BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team picked up its second Southeastern Conference victory of the season on Friday as the Lady Tigers shook off a slow start to defeat the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs, 5-2, at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“We came out and we did what we had to do in order to win,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “I wasn’t really pleased with how we competed, especially in the doubles play, because I thought that our doubles play had been our strong suit all year and we just came out a little bit flat today. We were able to get the win and that’s all that counts.”
With LSU (10-10, 2-7 SEC) leading the contest by a score of 3-1, freshman Camila Caliari posted the match-clinching victory on court No. 5 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Mississippi State’s Yumi Ueda. Caliari, the Lady Tiger native of Maringa, Brazil, used the victory to improve to an overall record of 12-10 on the season.
Mississippi State (6-12, 0-9 SEC) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on Friday by winning on courts Nos. 2 and 3 to take the doubles point. The Lady Tigers’ tandem of Rocio Fantilli and Lauren Seaman prevented a Lady Bulldog sweep by defeating Mississippi State’s combination of Ueda and Elaine Fagan, 8-3, on court No. 1.
“I think that a little bit of what happened today is that we have such a young team,” Minnis said. “They came out and they didn’t really understand that Mississippi State is a good team even though they are struggling a little bit. We’re not in a position right now where we can come in and take any team lightly. That’s what they did in doubles, but to their credit, they found a way to win.”
In singles play, LSU reeled off four straight victories on Friday to take a deciding 4-1 lead in the contest.
Seaman, the Lady Tigers’ ever-improving walk-on freshman, got things started with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Justyna Switala on court No. 6, while Fantilli and Jessica Ferguson quickly followed with straight-set victories on courts Nos. 1 and 2. Ferguson defeated the Lady Bulldogs’ Magdi Rekasi, 6-3, 6-3, to snap a 14-match losing streak, while Fantilli used a 6-1, 6-4 win on court No. 1 to stop an eight-match slide.
LSU’s final singles victory came from freshman Daysi Espinal on court No. 4.
In a match that was delayed nearly 25 minutes due to a passing rain shower, Espinal outlasted the Lady Bulldogs’ Fagan, 6-4, 6-4, to earn her team-leading 17th win of the season. The native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, owns a 17-11 overall singles record.
“The key for our team now is to use the momentum from this win to really get ready to go after Ole Miss on Sunday,” said Minnis. “That will be a huge match for us, because it is our final home SEC match of the season and we want to start a run in order to finish the year off on a good note.”
The LSU women’s tennis team will next be in action on Sunday as the Lady Tigers host the Ole Miss Lady Rebels in a critical SEC Western Division showdown beginning at 1 p.m. at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
LSU (10-10, 2-7 SEC) def. Mississippi State (6-12, 0-9 SEC), 5-2
Doubles
1. Fantilli/Seaman (LSU) def. Ueda/Fagan (MSU), 8-3
2. Rekasi/Kugakolova (MSU) def. Ferguson/Chiarelli (LSU), 8-4
3. Switala/Hirt (MSU) def. Caliari/Espinal (LSU), 8-5*
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Anastasia Kugakolova (MSU), 6-1, 6-4
2. Jessica Ferguson (LSU) def. Magdi Rekasi (MSU), 6-3, 6-3
3. Marcelle Hirt (MSU) def. Marina Chiarelli (LSU), 6-4, 6-4
4. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Elaine Fagan (MSU), 6-4, 6-4
5. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Yumi Ueda (MSU), 6-3, 6-0**
6. Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Justyna Switala (MSU), 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1, 5, 3, 4
* Clinched doubles point
** Cliched match