COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The LSU women’s tennis team endured a long Saturday, falling in a close match to Texas A&M, 4-2. A match that was set to begin at 1:30 p.m. did not start until several hours later because of weather and did not end until nearly 11 p.m.
Rain forced the matches to be played in an indoor facility. The facility only has three courts, so only three matches took place at a time and the overall match was called after four victories.
For the first time this season, the Lady Tigers could not claim the doubles point. Despite Lauren Seaman and Tiffany Tucker’s victory on court one, losses on courts two and three gave the Aggies the first point of the day.
Amanda Mang and Staten Spencer remained close their entire match on court two, but eventually fell in a 9-8 tiebreaker. Seaman and Tucker, on the other hand, kept up their hot streak and earned their seventh straight doubles win on court one to remain undefeated.
In singles, Spencer got LSU off to a quick start, winning over Lauren Walker, 6-1, 6-0, en route to her eighth straight win. She remains undefeated in dual singles play.
Seaman also picked up a big win on court two. She defeated her first ranked opponent of the year in No. 72 Helga Vieira, 6-2, 6-2.
With LSU up 2-1, Mang continued her singles match on court one with the No. 54-ranked player in the country, Anna Lubinsky. She managed a 6-4 win in the first set, but fell behind in the second, 6-1. The two stayed close in the decisive third set and had it locked at 3-3. But Lubinsky pulled away and handed Mang yet another heartbreaking three-set loss. That tied the score at two.
The next match decided was Tucker’s. After winning the first set, she could not maintain the lead and lost the next two sets, putting the Aggies ahead 3-2, needing one more win to clinch the match.
Despite a hard-fought match by Marina Chiarelli, Blagodarova did that for Texas A&M in three sets. Caliari had won her first set and was up in the second, but the match was stopped after the Aggies clinched.
The Lady Tigers begin conference play next weekend as Florida and South Carolina travel to W.T. Robinson Tennis Stadium. They will face Florida on Friday and South Carolina on Sunday as they try to maintain their perfect home record.
#39 Texas A&M 4, #41 LSU 2
SINGLES
1. (#54) Anna Lubinsky, A&M def. Amanda Mang, LSU, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
2. Lauren Seaman, LSU def. (#72) Helga Vieira, A&M, 6-2, 6-2
3. Staten Spencer, LSU def. Lauren Walker, A&M, 6-1, 6-0
4. Anna Blagodarova, A&M def. Marina Chiarelli, LSU, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3
5. Tiffany Clifford, A&M def. Tiffany Tucker, LSU, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Marisa Druss, A&M vs. Camila Caliari, LSU, DNF
DOUBLES
1. (#48) Seaman/Tucker, LSU def. Lubinsky/Walker, A&M, 9-7
2. Blagodarova/Clifford, A&M def. Mang/Spencer, LSU, 9-8 (1)
3. Iwinski/Vieira, A&M def. Caliari/Chiarelli, LSU, 8-3
LSU national ranking: #41; record: 6-2
Texas A&M national ranking: #39; record: 3-8
Order of Finish:
Doubles – 3,1,2
Singles – 3,2,1,5,4 (6 dnf)
Clincher: 4
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