COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The LSU women’s tennis team, making its ninth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, will face off against the homestanding Texas A&M Aggies on Friday as the Lady Tigers begin play in the 2003 NCAA Tournament at 1 p.m. in College Station, Texas.
The fourth-ranked California Golden Bears will take on the Army Black Knights at 1 p.m. on Friday as the matches are scheduled to be played simultaneously at the Texas A&M Tennis Center. LSU and Texas A&M will compete on the grandstand courts, while Cal and Army will face off on the stadium courts.
“We are really pumped up to play Texas A&M,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “We played them earlier in the year, so we know what kind of environment we will be heading into, and I think that we are a better team now. Getting into the tournament for nine-straight years is really a big accomplishment and I think that it is a credit to our consistency. I would have liked to have been seeded higher, but at this point I’m just happy that we made it.”
LSU heads into its ninth-consecutive NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 12-12 on the season after finishing as the second-place team in the highly competitive Western Division of the Southeastern Conference. The Lady Tigers have played against what is arguably the nation’s toughest schedule this season with 18 of their 24 matches coming against nationally ranked opponents.
The Lady Tigers have defeated six top-75 ranked opponents this season. Up to this point in the 2003 dual-match campaign, LSU has posted victories over No. 26 Tulane, No. 31 Ohio State, No. 31 Auburn (Ohio State and Auburn were each ranked No. 31 when LSU played them), No. 51 Ole Miss, No. 59 Arkansas and the 71st-ranked Southern Methodist Lady Mustangs.
“I think that we played very well at the end of the season,” said Minnis. “We played a very tough schedule this year and we were finally able to come up with some big wins at the end which helped us to get into the tournament. I’m really happy. I’m really excited and I think that this will be the healthiest that our team has been all year.”
Texas A&M, which qualified for its fourth-consecutive NCAA Tournament, will enter Friday’s matchup against LSU with an overall record of 19-10 on the year. The Lady Aggies won their first Big 12 Championship title in school history this season and recorded a 5-2 victory over LSU on Feb. 15.
LSU and Texas A&M have faced off against each other 25 times in the all-time series between the schools. The Lady Aggies own a 14-11 overall record in the rivalry and have won the previous three contests. LSU’s last victory versus Texas A&M came during the 2000 dual-match season as the Lady Tigers’ posted a 5-4 win.
By earning its ninth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance this season, the LSU women’s tennis team became one of only 13 programs in the nation to reach nine-straight NCAA Tournaments.
The prestigious accomplishment moved LSU into an elite group of women’s tennis teams that includes the following programs: Arizona State, California, Duke, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Southern California, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA and Vanderbilt.
The LSU women’s tennis team will attempt to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2000 season on Friday as the Lady Tigers challenge the 28th-ranked Texas A&M Lady Aggies at 1 p.m. In 2000, LSU defeated Iowa, 5-3, and knocked off sixth-ranked Pepperdine to advance to the Sweet 16.