BATON ROUGE — After delays from rain and court conditions, the No. 23 LSU women’s tennis team opened its dual-match season in a big way by sweeping both Centenary and UL-Lafayette, 7-0.
The wins gave the Lady Tigers a 2-0 record to start the season for the 13th consecutive year dating back to head coach Tony Minnis’ first season in 1992. They also brought the all-time records against the schools to 17-0 against Centenary and 20-0 against ULL.
“We played solid tennis today,” Minnis said. “I think we did an outstanding job of coming out in singles after playing solid in doubles. I thought today we played with the attitude that we could be beaten, and played hard and very intense.”
LSU started its day against Centenary, sweeping both doubles and singles competition. In doubles, Marina Chiarelli and Anastasiya Dubova won by default. Then on court two, Daysi Espinal and Camila Caliari picked up a win over Christine Majchrowicz and Ashlee Mantooth, 8-1. On court one, Lauren Seaman and Tiffany Tucker completed the sweep by defeating Anja Schmidt and Heather Kelley, 8-0.
The Lady Tigers were equally dominant in singles play, allowing Centenary only one game point in the entire match. Chiarelli and Tucker both won their matches by default. Dubova earned the next victory on court four to clinch the match for LSU by defeating Versh Sharma, 6-1, 6-0.
Staten Spencer, Seaman and Amanda Mang all collected victories over their Centenary opponents with scores of 6-0, 6-0.
LSU waited for the rain to clear and then took on its next opponent in the Ragin’ Cajuns of UL-Lafayette. Despite already playing one match earlier in the day, LSU won all its matches against its second opponent as well.
In doubles, the Lady Tigers swept the competition to earn the first point of the match. Chiarelli and Caliari won over Celine VonWeydeveld and Thais Bortoletto on court three, 8-0.
Next on court two, Mang and Spencer defeated Susan Linden and Kimmie Lyles, 8-3, to clinch the doubles point. Seaman and Tucker finished off the doubles competition with an 8-3 victory as well over Tammy Day and Chanelle Meijer on court one.
The Lady Tigers continued to roll in singles play, allowing the Ragin’ Cajuns very few games as well.
Minnis said he was especially pleased with the way his veteran players–Mang, Chiarelli and Seaman–competed against ULL.
“I think our three upperclassmen played well in singles against ULL,” he explained. “They showed their experience and they looked really solid.”
Seaman finished off her opponent first. She defeated Celine VonWeydeveld on court two, 6-1, 6-0. The next victory was Staten Spencer’s over Kimmie Lyles, 6-0, 6-1, on court four.
Then by defeating Chanelle Meijer, 6-0, 6-2, on court three, Chiarelli clinched the second match of the day for LSU. Dubova, Mang and Tucker each earned victories over their opponents as well to give LSU the sweep.
“We played really well today,” Minnis said. “We just have to keep working so we can keep getting better as the season goes along.”
The Lady Tigers return to action next Saturday for another doubleheader versus in-state schools Southern University and Southeastern Louisiana.
MATCH RESULTS
#23 LSU 7, Centenary 0
Singles competition:
1. Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Heather Kelley (CEN) 6-0, 6-0
2. Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Chrstine Majchrowicz (CEN) 6-0, 6-0
3. Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Ashlee Mantooth (CEN) 6-0, 6-0
4. Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) def. Versh Sharma (CEN) 6-1, 6-0
5. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Kristin Johnson (CEN), by default
6. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Sarah Myers (CEN), by default
Doubles competition:
1. Lauren Seaman/Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Anja Schmidt/Heather Kelley (CEN) 8-0
2. Daysi Espinal/Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Chrstine Majchrowicz/Ashlee Mantooth (CEN) 8-1
3. Anastasiya Dubova/Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Versh Sharma/Sarah Myers (CEN), by default
Match Notes:
Centenary 0-0 (0-0)
LSU 0-0 (0-0); National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,6,4,3,2,1)
Clincher: 4
Match Notes: Start of match delayed until 11 a.m. because of court conditions
#23 LSU 7, UL-Lafayette 0
Singles competition:
1. Amanda Mang (LSU) def. Tammy Day (ULL) 6-1, 6-2
2. Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Celine VanWeydeveld (ULL) 6-1, 6-0
3. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Chanelle Meijer (ULL) 6-0, 6-2
4. Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Susan Linden (ULL) 6-0, 6-1
5. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Thais Bortoletto (ULL) 6-2, 6-4
6. Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) def. Kimmie Lyles (ULL) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles competition:
1. Lauren Seaman/Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Tammy Day/Chanelle Meijer (ULL) 8-3
2. Amanda Mang/Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Susan Linden/Kimmie Lyles (ULL) 8-3
3. Marina Chiarelli/Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Celine VanWeydeveld/Thais Bortoletto (ULL) 8-0
Match Notes:
UL-Lafayette 0-0 (0-0)
LSU 1-0 (0-0); National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,4,3,6,1,5)
Clincher: 3
Match note: Start time moved to 3:30 p.m. because of weather conditions