BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team was ranked 20th in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association Poll released Friday.
The Lady Tigers, who were ranked as low as 62nd at mid-season, won nine consecutive matches at the end of the regular season to leap as high as No. 18. They won the 2004 Southeastern Conference Western Division title and reached the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
LSU reached the NCAA Tournament for the 10th consecutive year in 2004. They are one of only 10 teams in the nation to claim at least 10 consecutive wins. They were eliminated in the first round of the tournament by an Arizona State team that would reach the Sweet Sixteen.
The team’s 18 wins were the second-most under head coach Tony Minnis, who was named the Southwest Regional Coach of the Year for the third time in 2004.
Senior Jessica Ferguson finished the season ranked No. 57 in the singles poll after participating in the NCAA Singles Championship Tournament and defeating eight ranked opponents.
LSU faced 19 opponents listed in the final rankings during 2004, including 10 of the top 30 teams. They recorded wins over No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 19 Tennessee, No. 26 Florida State and No. 30 Alabama. SEC rivals Vanderbilt and Florida were ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, and Georgia was No. 7.