NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The LSU women’s tennis team travels to eighth-ranked Vanderbilt on Sunday looking to snap a three-match losing skid.
“It’s not that we haven’t been playing well, it’s just that we haven’t been executing at the right times and finishing matches when we’ve had the chance,” head coach Tony Minnis said.
This is the second match this weekend and fourth time this season they will face a team ranked in the top 10.
The Lady Tigers are coming off a loss at No. 3 Kentucky on Friday, which brought their record to 7-6(1-4 Southeastern Conference).
The Commodores enter the match with a 13-2 record and are 4-1 in the SEC. Their last match was at Arkansas on Friday, where they came out with a 6-1 win.
The Commodores took the win in the teams’ last meeting in 2004, 7-0, tying the all-time series at 14 wins each.
No. 99 Amanda Mang, the lone senior on the LSU squad, dropped a close match against Kentucky and will look to get the win at Vanderbilt.
Junior Marina Chiarelli, who took her top-50 Kentucky opponent to three sets, also looks to get a victory for her records.
Vanderbilt claims three singles competitors ranked among the ITA’s top 100. Audra Falk leads that list at No. 8, followed by Amanda Fish in 47th and Taka Bertand in 55th.
The Commodore also place two doubles teams in the rankings. The pair of Annie Menees and Audra Falk rank 32nd, and Amanda Fish and Taka Bertrand list at No. 41.
Likely again without the services of junior Lauren Seaman because of injury, Minnis said the team must step up to defeat a team like Vanderbilt.
“We have a chance to win against teams like this, but we have to execute and do the right things when we need to,” he said.