BATON ROUGE — LSU has a chance Sunday to start the season 6-0 for the first time in five seasons if they can beat Rice at home. The Lady Owls, led by 51st-ranked sophomore Lauren Archer, will be one of the toughest teams the Lady Tigers have faced all season.
The Lady Tigers have won all 14 doubles matches they have played this season. Senior Rocio Fantilli and junior Amanda Mang have played No. 1 doubles in all five matches, winning all by scores of 8-2 and 8-1.
Mang and senior Jessica Ferguson have alternated at No. 1 singles. Ferguson only lost her first match against Centenary’s Anja Schmidt, but has won four in a row since. Mang lost a tough one last weekend against Purdue’s Amy Walgenbach, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0. No Lady Tiger has lost more than one singles match this dual season.
Rice is 4-1 entering the match after losing last week to No. 14 William and Mary. They are the first of three-straight Texas opponents the Lady Tigers will face in the next two weeks. The Lady Tigers host Houston next Saturday at 11 a.m. and then travel to Dallas to face SMU on February 17.
Sunday’s match begins at noon at the W.T. Robinson Tennis Stadium on LSU’s campus.