NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The LSU women’s tennis team had impressive individual showings in their tight 4-3 loss Sunday to eighth-ranked Vanderbilt.
“We played hard, we just fell short,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “They’re obviously a very good team at eighth in the country.”
The Commodores (14-2, 5-1 SEC) nabbed the doubles point with a pair of 8-5 wins on courts one and three. LSU’s Staten Spencer and Marina Chiarelli kept LSU in the point with an 8-2 win on court two over No. 41-ranked Taka Bertrand and Amanda Fish.
In singles, Vanderbilt’s powerful lineup gave them a 4-0 lead before Chiarelli put LSU on the board with another win over a ranked opponent. She beat No. 55 Bertrand, 6-4, 7-5 on court three.
Amanda Mang lost to Vanderbilt’s No. 8-ranked Audra Falk in straight sets on court one. Tiffany Tucker lost to Amanda Taylor, 6-2, 6-3.
Fish, ranked 47th, clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Staten Spencer on court one.
Camila Caliari tidied the score for LSU, beating Annie Menees in a tiebreaker set on court five. Daysi Espinal also had a tiebreaker win on six, beating Vanderbilt’s Caroline Ferrell, 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (6).
“Those singles wins are positive,’ Minnis said. “We need to capitalize on that and when we do that we’re going to get some wins.”
LSU continued to play without the services of injured junior Lauren Seaman, who usually plays No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles.
“Lauren is our most solid doubles player and she is playing well in singles,” Minnis said. “Hopefully we can get her back for next weekend.”
The loss dropped the Lady Tigers to 7-7 and 1-5 in Southeastern Conference play.
“We’ve been competing hard,” Minnis said. We’re going to beat somebody because we’ve been fighting very hard. Vanderbilt was just a little better today.”
The Lady Tigers return home next weekend to host their first SEC Western Division opponents, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.”
Match Results
#8 VU 4, #41 LSU 3
Doubles
1. Falk/Taylor (VU) def. Mang/Tucker (LSU), 8-5
2. Chiarelli/Spencer (LSU) def. No. 41 Bertrand/Fish (VU), 8-2
3. Ferrell/Menees (VU) def. Caliari/Espinal (LSU), 8-5
Order: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. No. 8 Audra Falk (VU) def. No. 99 Amanda Mang (LSU), 6-0, 6-4
2. No. 47 Amanda Fish (VU) def. Staten Spencer (LSU), 6-1, 6-4
3. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. No. 55 Taka Bertrand (VU), 6-4, 7-5
4. Amanda Taylor (VU) def. Tiffany Tucker (LSU), 6-2, 6-3
5. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Annie Menees (VU), 7-5, 0-6, 10-8
6. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Caroline Ferrell (VU), 6-4, 1-6, 10-6
Order: 4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6