BATON ROUGE — The No. 12-ranked Tulane Green Wave defeated the No. 20-ranked Lady Tigers of LSU, 5-2 Friday. The loss snaps LSU’s in-state win streak, which had been 44 consecutive matches. The streak began after Tulane defeated LSU back in 1994.
The Lady Tigers finish the regular season with an overall record of 18-8. LSU’s SEC record remains at 6-5 with additional wins over Arkansas and Tennessee in last week’s SEC Tournament.
Seniors Bonnie White, Jessica Ferguson and Rocio Fantilli were honored at Friday’s match, the Lady Tigers’ final match of the regular season.
LSU won the doubles point to start the match. Fantilli/Seaman defeated Smekodub/D. Ivanov, 8-4 on court one while Ferguson/Chiarelli defeated No. 31-ranked Kockott/Magas, 8-5 on court two.
In singles play, No. 67-ranked Jessica Ferguson defeated Tulane’s 83rd ranked Maria Ivanov, 6-0, 6-4 to give the Lady Tigers their only singles match point.
“I give Tulane a lot of credit. We played well but we were not quite as sharp as we’ve been,” said Head Coach Tony Minnis after the match. “We need to get healthy. We’ve got some kids who are pretty banged up but when you play our type of schedule, that’s bound to happen. This team should be proud of what they’ve done.”
The Lady Tigers will now prepare for the NCAA Regional Tournament, which begins May 14 and will be held at campuses to be determined.
Tulane 5, LSU 2
Doubles
No. 1 Fantilli-Seaman (LSU) def. Smekodub-D. Ivanov 8-4
No. 2 Ferguson-Chiarelli (LSU) def. Nancy Kockott/Dorottya Magas 8-5
No. 3 Mang-Espinal (LSU) vs. Ivanov-Kuhn (TU) 3-7, unfinished
Singles
No. 1 Jessica Ferguson (LSU) def. Maria Ivanov 6-0, 6-4
No. 2 Jenny Kuhn (TU) def. Rocio Fantilli 6-1, 6-2
No. 3 Julie Smekodub (TU) def. Marina Chiarelli 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
No. 4 Darya Ivanov (TU) def. Amanda Mang 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 Dorottya Magas (TU) def. Lauren Seaman 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3)
No. 6 Nancy Kockott (TU) def. Daysi Espinal 6-2, 6-1
Match Notes:
Tulane 25-1; National ranking #12
LSU 18-8; National ranking #20