BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The LSU women’s tennis team experienced some success in its first day of the Indiana Hoosier Classic, with one singles player and one doubles team winning first-round matches.
Freshman Staten Spencer defeated Hillary Tyler of Iowa in two sets, 6-3, 7-5, in her flight D bracket. She will play Erica Josbena of Missouri tomorrow.
Coach Tony Minnis said he is very pleased with Spencer’s performance thus far.
“Staten played really well,” he said. “This should really give her some confidence. I am proud of the way she competed.”
He also said the other singles players performed well despite earning losses.
“We didn’t pick up a lot of wins today, but the team played hard. Lauren (Seaman) lost to Indiana’s No. 1 player (No. 37 in the nation Dora Vastag), and Marina (Chiarelli) lost to Missouri’s No. 1 (Katka Sevcikova.) We just need to keep working to improve.”
Camila Caliari was pulled from singles competition before her match to allow for further recovery from foot surgery.
Spencer was also successful on the doubles courts, as she and Lauren Seaman defeated Marry Barry and Hana Kraftova of Missouri by a score of 8-6. The duo then went on to beat Tamar Kvaratskhelia and Jessica Simosa of Kansas State, 8-1, to advance to the quarterfinals. They need a win in the next round against Indiana’s Dominika Walterova and Brianna Williams to place them in the finals of doubles competition.
LSU’s two other doubles teams of Chiarelli and Tiffany Tucker and Daysi Espinal and Caliari were both defeated in their first-round matches, but then went on to win their first consolation matches.
The Hoosier Classic resumes tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. CST, where Spencer and the doubles team of Spencer and Seaman will continue to play in their respective winners’ brackets. The remaining players will also continue competition in consolation brackets.
HOOSIER CLASSIC
Day One Results
Singles
Flight A
Dora Vastag (Ind.) def. Lauren Seaman (LSU), 6-3, 6-1
Katka Sevcikova (Missouri) def. Marina Chiarelli (LSU), 6-3, 6-3
Flight B
Anastasia Zhukova (Iowa) def. Daysi Espinal (LSU), 6-4, 6-2
Flight C
Dominika Wilterova (Ind.) def. Tiffany Tucker (LSU), 6-3, 7-6(4)
Flight D
Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Hillary Tyler (Iowa), 6-3, 7-5
Flight E
Carolyn Kramer (Missouri) def. Camila Caliari (LSU), default
Doubles
Main Bracket
Round one
Lask/Lask (Murray St.) def. Chiarelli/Tucker (LSU), 8-1
Nadasska/Sevcikova (Missouri) def. Espinal/Caliari (LSU), 8-0
Seaman/Spencer (LSU) def. Barry/Kraftova (Missouri), 8-6
Quarterfinals
Seaman/Spencer (LSU) def. Kvaratskhelia/Simosa (KSU), 8-1
Consolation Bracket
Quarterfinals
Chiarelli/Tucker (LSU) def. Rosenberg/Diaz (KSU), 8-4
Espinal/Caliari (LSU) def. Zhukova/ Vesselinovic (Iowa), 8-6