BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team was ranked 49th in the nation Tuesday when the Intercollegiate Tennis Association released its first 2004 team poll.
The news comes two days after the Lady Tigers completed their first matches of the spring season in the Michigan Invitational.
LSU’s Rocio Fantilli and Lauren Seaman were ranked 34th in the doubles poll. The pair rose from a No. 36 ranking in the fall preseason poll. They are currently ranked third in the Southwest Region.
The Southeastern Conference, traditionally the nation’s strongest in women’s college tennis, had 11 of its 12 teams ranked. Five of those were in the top 15. Defending national champion Florida was No. 1. Georgia and Tennessee were 5th and 10th, respectively.
Rice, Tulsa, Tulane, Florida State, Texas A&M and Purdue are other opponents on the Lady Tigers’ 2004 schedule who were also ranked.
The Lady Tigers begin their home season Jan. 24 against Centenary at 9 a.m. and UL-Lafayette at 1 p.m.
The ITA serves as the governing body for collegiate tennis and releases national and regional rankings periodically throughout the season.