BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team captured its third straight win Wednesday with a sweep of Houston at W.T. Robinson Tennis Stadium.
Heading into their Southeastern Conference-opening weekend at Tennessee and Georgia, the Lady Tigers improved to 7-1, while the Cougars dropped just their second decision of the year and are now 6-2.
“Houston has had some good wins this year and has played some competitive matches,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “For us to come out and to really dominate the way we did, I was really pleased with that type of effort.”
The win also marked the seventh straight the Lady Tigers have recorded over Houston, bringing them to 13-2 in the overall series.
LSU began the match with exceptional doubles play to hand Houston its first loss in doubles of the year. Without the services of Lauren Seaman, part of the No. 1 doubles team ranked No. 35 in the country, the Lady Tigers swept the Cougars in their first loss in eight matches in doubles.
“We have stressed doubles intensity this year, and there was no question that today it was the best it’s been all year,” Minnis said. “Heading into Tennessee, we needed to get a match where we established ourselves early and came out to play like we did today.”
The Lady Tigers stormed out to 3-0 leads on all three doubles courts before surrendering a single game to their opponents. In all, they allowed seven total games en route to capturing the doubles point.
Playing together for the first time this season, Marina Chiarelli and Anastasiya Dubova easily disposed of their opponents Kami Miller and Yolandi Terblanche on the No. 2 courts, 8-3. Then Camila Caliari and Daysi Espinal bested Brianna Bateup and Vicky Simpson, 8-1, on court three to clinch the first point for LSU.
Mykala Hedberg and Tiffany Tucker, also playing together for the first time this year, completed the doubles sweep with an 8-3 victory over Sonja Nikolic and Sarah Reimer on court one.
LSU jumped ahead quickly in singles as well. All of the Lady Tigers won their first sets, four of the six coming in 6-1 or 6-2 fashion. Without Seaman, a mainstay at No. 2 singles, the remaining Lady Tigers still grabbed wins playing on higher courts than usual.
“I’m very proud of these girls,” Minnis said. “We have starters out with Lauren hurt and Staten (Spencer) out for the year and we’re down to six players. Yet we’re still fighting hard and pulling out some tough matches. These kids continue to battle and continue to fight.”
Hedberg bested Gomez on court one first, 6-2, 6-0. The freshman in now 6-2 in dual matches in the No. 1 slot.
Caliari ousted Nikolic on court five next, 6-1, 6-0, improving her personal dual-match record to 7-1. In addition, she has allowed her opponent only one game in each of her last two matches, as she won her match Sunday, 6-0, 6-1.
Then, in only her third dual-match appearance this year, Espinal clinched the victory for the Lady Tigers by downing Simpson on court six, 6-2, 6-1.
Tucker and Chiarelli finished off quick two-set matches as well to bring the score to 6-0. The latter matched Caliari’s record at 7-1 to tie for tops on the team.
Dubova, who had won her first set, 6-4, was down 3-0 at the conclusion of LSU’s fifth singles match. But she battled back and didn’t allow her opponent a single game the remainder of the match, outlasting Miller, 6-3.
The Lady Tigers now travel to face No. 29 Tennessee on Friday in its first SEC match of the year.
MATCH RESULTS
#46 LSU 7, #70 Houston 0
Singles competition
1. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Loli Gomez (UH) 6-2, 6-0
2. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Brianna Bateup (UH) 6-2, 6-2
3. Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) def. Kami Miller (UH) 6-4, 6-3
4. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Sarah Reimer (UH) 6-3, 6-0
5. Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Sonja Nikolic (UH) 6-1, 6-0
6. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Vicky Simpson (UH) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Mykala Hedberg/Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Sonja Nikolic/Sarah Reimer (UH) 8-3
2. Marina Chiarelli/Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) def. Kami Miller/Yolandi Terblanche (UH) 8-3
3. Daysi Espinal/Camila Caliari (LSU) def. Brianna Bateup/Vicky Simpson (UH) 8-1
Match Notes:
Houston 6-1; National ranking #70
LSU 6-1; National ranking #46
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,5,6,4,2,3)