BATON ROUGE — The Lady Tigers had a sweet homecoming with a 4-3 upset over 16th-ranked Texas A&M Thursday in their first match in Robinson Stadium in over a month.
LSU senior Jessica Ferguson sparked her team with a 6-3, 6-2 win over 21st-ranked Jessica Roland on court No. 1.
The Lady Tigers (8-5, 0-4) snapped their own four-match win streak, at the same time breaking the Lady Aggies’ six-match win streak. LSU has now won 10 consecutive home matches dating back to March 2003.
“They just went after A&M and played one heck of a match,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “These girls have a lot of heart and they gave us a tremendous win.”
LSU had a shot at the doubles point with a win by Camila Caliari and Daysi Espinal on court No. 3. But Texas A&M’s Roland and Nicki Mecham won a tiebreaker at the No. 2 spot to beat Ferguson and Marina Chiarelli, 9-7 (7) to clinch to point for the Aggies.
Lauren Seaman lost on court No. 5 before Ferguson’s win put the Lady Tigers on the board.
Caliari won her match on court No. 4 over Lauren Walker of Texas A&M to tie the overall match score at 2-2. LSU’s Chiarelli then finished off Roberta Spencer at the No. 3 position.
Rocio Fantilli clinched the match for the Lady Tigers on court No. 2 with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Helga Viera.
“I’ve just been telling them to keep a good attitude and a good effort and something good was going to happen,” Minnis said. “The last four matches have been tough. Tennessee is a really good a team and Georgia and Florida are ranked two and three in the nation.”
LSU’s last four opponents were higher-ranked Southeastern Conference rivals, including defending Florida. They have not played an SEC match at home.
“When I saw that road stretch, I knew it was going to be tough. But I couldn’t be any more proud of this team,” Minnis. “I was hoping to come out of that with some wins, but I knew if we could get through it and get back home felt like we could beat anybody in our house.”
The Lady Tigers will take an eight-day break before trying to continue their success against Kentucky March 19 at 4 p.m.
#55 LSU 4, #16 Texas A&M 3
Singles competition:
1. Jessica Ferguson (LSU) def. #21 Jessica Roland (TAMU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Helga Viera (TAMU) 6-4, 7-5
3. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Roberta Spencer (TAMU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Lauren Walker (TAMU) 6-4, 6-2
5. Nicki Meechem (TAMU) def. Lauren Seaman (LSU) 6-4, 6-0
6. Anna Lubinsky (TAMU) def. Daysi Espinal (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition:
1. Roberta Spencer/Lauren Walker (TAMU) def. Lauren Seaman/Rocio Fantilli (LSU) 8-4
2. Nicki Meechem/Jessica Roland (TAMU) def. Jessica Ferguson/Marina Chiarelli (LSU) 9-7 (9-7)
3. Daysi Espinal/Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Danielle Lee/Anna Lubinsky (TAMU) 8-4
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,5,4,3,1,6)
Clinchers: Doubles (2) Match (2)