BATON ROUGE — After several rain delays forced it to postpone the season-opener, the LSU women’s tennis team wasted no time in disposing of Louisiana Tech, 7-0, Saturday at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“I’m glad we finally had a chance to play because we’ve been waiting to start the season,” head coach Tony Minnis said. “We played pretty well, but at this point of the year we just have to keep improving and make sure we’re ready for every match.”
En route to the victory, LSU (1-0) allowed Louisiana Tech (0-1) only three total games in the match. The Lady Tigers also improved their all-time series record over the Lady Bulldogs to 7-0.
LSU continues its opening weekend Sunday with matches against UL-Lafayette at 9:30 a.m. and Southern at 2 p.m.
“ULL and Southern are both tough teams, and I’m expecting some tough matches tomorrow,” Minnis said.
It took just 30 minutes for the Lady Tigers to gain the early lead by winning the doubles point to open the match. Mykala Hedberg and Marina Chiarelli downed Louisiana Tech’s Heidi Smith and Noel Camel on court two, 7-0, first followed by Tiffany Tucker and Lauren Seaman’s clincher on court one over Avril Martinez and Caroline Tran, 8-1.
LSU dominated singles as well, taking less than an hour to gain the three victories needed to clinch the match. Tucker completed her match first on court four followed by a victory by Daysi Espinal on court six.
Then came the match clincher by Seaman on court two, 6-0, 6-0, over Martinez. Hedberg’s win on court one, the first of her collegiate career, closed the match for the Lady Tigers.
“It was good for us all to finally play a match,” Hedberg commented. “I’m glad to finally have that first singles and doubles win under my belt.”
The remaining Lady Tigers completed the sweep of the Lady Bulldogs to win the opening match for LSU for the 20th consecutive year.
MATCH RESULTS
Louisiana Tech vs LSU
Jan 28, 2006 at Baton Rouge, La.
#43 LSU 7, Louisiana Tech 0
Singles competition
1. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Monica Kelly (LT) 6-1, 6-1
2. Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Avril Martinez (LT) 6-0, 6-0
3. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Caroline Tran (LT) 6-0, 6-0
4. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Noel Camel (LT) 6-0, 6-0
5. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Adriana Makowska (LT) 6-0, 6-1
6. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Heidi Smith (LT) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Tiffany Tucker/Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Avril Martinez/Caroline Tran (LT) 8-1
2. Mykala Hedberg/Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Heidi Smith/Noel Camel (LT) 8-0
3. Daysi Espinal/Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Monica Kelly/Adriana Makowska (LT) 8-5
Match Notes:
Louisiana Tech 0-1
LSU 1-0; National ranking #43
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,6,2,3,5,1)