BATON ROUGE — The Lady Tigers completed their path to the SEC Western Division Championship on Sunday with a 6-1 win over Arkansas. The 20th-ranked Lady Tigers (15-6, 6-5) swept the doubles point and never looked back, rolling off five singles wins.
“These girls deserve credit,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “They’ve been through a lot of adversity this season.”
LSU did not appear to be a contender for the title several weeks ago, when they slid to 62nd in the national rankings and began conference play with four-straight losses. But the Lady Tigers answered the slump with two consecutive upsets in mid-March. They launched a dramatic turnaround, winning six straight matches and vaulting 42 spots in the rankings.
“We started out with our backs against the wall and then put together a solid streak,” Minnis said. “The beauty of it is, it’s a team effort with different people coming through when they need to. They have been fun to coach.”
LSU swept all of its SEC Western Division rivals, including 23rd-ranked Alabama this past Sunday to tie for the lead.
Amanda Mang clinched the win, 6-1, 6-0 on court No. 4 over Whitney Morton after Camila Caliari and Marina Chiarelli earned straight-set wins on courts No. 6 and No. 3. Lauren Seaman and Rocio Fantilli garnished the victory with singles wins on No. 5 and No. 2.
The Lady Razorbacks’ only win in the match came on court No. 1 from Anna Dybicz over Jessica Ferguson. That point was registered after LSU won the match.
The Lady Tigers will not play the match scheduled for Sunday against Houston. Instead they will face Southern Tuesday at 2 p.m. in their final tune-up before next weekend’s SEC Tournament in Nashville.
“We still haven’t achieved all the goals we set for ourselves this season, but we have put ourselves in a good position to do so,” Minnis said. “We need to focus on Southern Tuesday and get ready for the tournament.”
#20 LSU 6, Arkansas 1
Singles competition:
1. Anna Dybicz (ARK) def. #50 Jessica Ferguson (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Rocio Fantilli (LSU) def. Megan Ferreira (ARK) 7-5, 7-5
3. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Iliana Pacheco (ARK) 6-1, 6-3
4. Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Whitney Morton (ARK) 6-1, 6-0
5. Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Melissa Cornett (ARK) 6-2, 6-2
6. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Chirstian Kincannon (ARK) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition:
1. Rocio Fantilli/Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Anna Dybicz/Megan Ferreira (ARK) 8-2
2. Jessica Ferguson/Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Whitney Morton/Melissa Cornett (ARK) 8-5
3. Amanda Mang/Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Iliana Pacheco/Chirstian Kincannon (ARK) 8-1
Match Notes:
Arkansas 8-12, 0-11
LSU 16-6, 6-5; National ranking #20
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1,2) Singles (6,3,4,5,1,2)
Clinchers: Doubles (1), Match (4)