WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Led by wins on all three doubles courts and the bottom half of the singles lineup, the LSU women’s tennis team notched a key road victory Wednesday over Purdue at the Varsity Tennis Courts, 4-3.
It was the Lady Tigers’ sixth one-point decision, this one in their favor unlike the previous two. The win ended a six-match drought without one for LSU, improving the team to 8-9 overall.
Purdue, which was in the midst of a season-long three-match winning streak entering the contets, dropped to 5-10 overall with its sixth 3-4 loss of the year.
“This win is definitely a confidence-booster,” head coach Tony Minnis said. “We haven’t won in a while, and Purdue is a really good team who has lost some tough matches. They have already beaten Texas A&M this season and have lost by one point of a few more solid opponents.”
For the first times since junior Lauren Seaman injured her back a month ago, the Lady Tigers doubles lineup returned back to the usual duos, and it paid off for LSU. All three pairs won their respective matches to receive the first point of the day for their squad.
“Now that Lauren is starting to get healthy, we were able to have our doubles lineup back to the way it was early in the season,” Minnis commented. “That really made a difference and helped us sweep the doubles point today.”
LSU won the next two points as well, as both Tiffany Tucker and Camila Caliari defeated their Boilermaker opponents in two sets. The win was Tucker’s third in a row and Caliari’s fourth straight.
Purdue took the next point, however, with a three-set win by Stephanie Wooten over Seaman court two. Seaman could not hold on to a 1-6 first-set victory and dropped the next two, 3-6, 3-6.
That was the last point the Boilermakers earned before the match’s outcome was decided. Marina Chiarelli overtook Brooke Beier on court four, 6-3, 6-4, to clinch the match for LSU.
Purdue managed two more wins, both in three sets, on courts one and three, but it was too late.
#49 LSU 4, #58 Purdue 3
Singles
1. #99 Hala Sufi (P) def. Amanda Mang (LSU) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
2. Stephanie Wooten (P) def. Lauren Seaman (LSU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. Shawna Zuccarini (P) def. Staten Spencer (LSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
4. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Brooke Beier (P) 6-3, 6-4 *
5. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Alyssa Rodriguez (P) 6-3, 7-6
6. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Amy Walgenbach (P) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
1. Seaman/Tucker (LSU) def. Lara Burgarello/Zuccarini (P) 8-6
2. Mang/Spencer (LSU) def. Beier/Wooten (P) 9-7
3. Chiarelli/Caliari (LSU) def. Rodriguez/Sufi (P) 8-4
Order of singles finish: 5, 6, 2, 4, 3, 1
Order of doubles finish: 3, 1, 2