BATON ROUGE — The Lady Tigers’ streak of eleven home wins came to an end Sunday when they fell, 7-0, to fourth-ranked Vanderbilt.
The match was not as lopsided as the final score indicates. When Vanderbilt (15-2, 5-1) earned its third win, the Lady Tigers were leading their sets on the remaining four courts.
LSU (9-6, 1-5) dropped the doubles point quickly, losing 8-0 and 8-1 on courts No. 1 and No. 2
“We came out flat,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “We were not ready to play in doubles.”
Rocio Fantilli and Camila Caliari each lost their matches on courts No. 2 and No. 4 to Vanderbilt’s 67th-ranked Kelly Schmandt and 80th-ranked Amanda Fish. The losses pushed Vanderbilt’s lead to 3-0.
LSU still had a chance, but Lauren Seaman, Daysi Espinal and Marina Chiarelli could not hang on to their second and third set leads.
Senior Jessica Ferguson hung with 27th-ranked Audra Falk through a tight third set to try and put her team on the board. Falk closed the match with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win.
“We played harder in singles, but we still looked flat,” Minnis said
LSU’s victory was especially disappointing coming off of two upsets over top-20 opponents. They beat 15th-ranked Kentucky in their last match and 16th-ranked Texas A&M a week earlier.
“If we want to be consistently ranked in the top 25, we are going to have to learn how to come off an emotional win and remain focused,” Minnis said.
Vanderbilt was the last in a series of top-five ranked opponents the Lady Tigers have faced in the past month. Next weekend, they travel to Ole Miss and Mississippi State to try to balance their SEC record.
#4 Vanderbilt 7, #35 LSU 0
Singles competition:
1. #27 Audra Falk (VAN) def. Jessica Ferguson (LSU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
2. #67 Kelly Schmandt (VAN) def. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Aleke Tsoubanos (VAN) def. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) 6-3, 7-5
4. #80 Amanda Fish (VAN) def. Camila Caliari (LSU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Ashley Schellhas (VAN) def. Lauren Seaman (LSU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
6. Annie Menees (VAN) def. Daysi Espinal (LSU) 1-6, 7-6 (4-7), 1-0 (10-8)
Doubles competition:
1. #3 Aleke Tsoubanos/Kelly Schmandt (VAN) def. Rocio Fantilli/Lauren Seaman (LSU) 8-0
2. #27 Audra Falk/Annie Menees (VAN) def. Jessica Ferguson/Marina Chiarelli (LSU) 8-1
3. Daysi Espinal/Camila Caliari (LSU) vs. Ashley Schellhas/Amanda Fish (VAN) 4-2, unfinished
Match Notes:
Vanderbilt 14-2, 4-1; National ranking #4
LSU 9-6, 1-5; National ranking #35
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3) Singles (2,4,5,6,3,1)
Clincher: (5)