BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team begins its regular season Saturday when it welcomes Prairie View A&M and UL-Lafayette to W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
The opening match versus the Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers is set for 9 a.m. followed by the match with the Ragin’ Cajuns at 1 p.m.
“We’ve played a lot of preseason stuff and are ready to get things started this weekend,” head coach Tony Minnis said. “ULL is a much improved team, and Prairie View is a good team in (the Southwestern Athletic Conference). We’re just ready to start the season.”
The contest marks LSU’s first meeting with the Lady Panthers while it is the 23rd time it has faced ULL. The Lady Tigers have been very successful against the Ragin’ Cajuns in the past, winning all 22 of the teams’ contests, including 7-0 shutouts in the previous three meetings.
The Lady Tigers return seven members from last year’s squad that went 12-12 and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 2006 roster includes four seniors, three sophomores and one freshman. The seniors — Camila Caliari, Marina Chiarelli, Daysi Espinal and Lauren Seaman — will be looked at to lead the team with their experience.
“They’ve seen the ups and downs and the highs and lows,” Minnis said of his seniors, “and I think when you have that type of experience it’s a great asset when trying to compete in the type of league we compete in against the type of competition we compete against.”
Freshman Mykala Hedberg is also expected to make an immediate contribution at the top of the lineup.
“When she steps on the court, she’s still a freshman,” Minnis commented on Hedberg. “But at the same time she has the potential to be a major impact.”
Neither of the weekend’s opponents has seniors on its roster, yet each brings a mix of juniors, sophomores and freshmen to compete against the Lady Tigers.
“I think one of the things that has been proven in college tennis over the years is that on any given day anyone can beat you,” Minnis explained. “So I think it’s important to come out well-prepared. If we do that and play hard, we should have success.”