BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team dropped its third consecutive conference match, falling to No. 27-ranked Kentucky, 6-1, Friday at W. T. Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“It was a tough loss today,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “We played well in some areas, but weren’t able to get the win.”
The Lady Tigers (7-4, 0-3 SEC) fell behind early when they failed to secure the doubles point. Their chances looked promising following an 8-4 win by Mykala Hedberg and Tiffany Tucker on the No. 1 singles court.
Kentucky shot back and gained the early point with doubles wins on courts two and three. On the No. 2 court the Tiger combo of Marina Chiarelli and Anastasiya Dubova fell to Joelle Schwenk and Lara Maurer, 8-3.
Lady Cats’ Danielle Petrisko and Caroline Winebrenner downed LSU seniors Daysi Espinal and Camila Caliari, 8-5.
Kentucky carried their momentum from the double point into the singles matches.
Kentucky beat the Lady Tigers in the first set on five of the six courts. However, the Lady Tigers did not go down without a fight.
The highlight of the match for LSU was Hedberg’s win over 41st-ranked Coventry on the No. 1 singles court. Hedberg dominated Coventry from start to finish, winning the first set, 6-0, and surrendering only two games in set two. The match marked the Tiger freshman’s first win over a ranked opponent.
“This was a big win for Mykayla,” said Minnis. “I really proud of her for the way she competed today.”
After Dubova lost, 6-2, 6-2, to Schwenk, putting Kentucky up 2-1, LSU began to rally.
Marina Chiarelli battled back on court two after dropping the first set to Maurer, 3-6, taking second set, 6-2. At the No. 54 singles spot Tiffany Tucker shook off a, 1-6, first set loss to win set two, 7-6, in a tiebreaker.
Espinal played courageously through intense muscle cramping, and took her match on court No. 6 to three sets as well.
In the end it wasn’t enough as Kentucky was able to recover and sow up the victory.
“We played hard, but we keep losing in three set matches,” said Minnis. “We have to keep improving and find a way to win third sets.”
LSU will host 12th-ranked Vanderbilt on Sunday at W. T. Robinson Tennis Stadium at 1 p.m.
#27 Kentucky 6, #41 LSU 1
Singles
1. Mykayla Hedberg (LSU) def. No. 41 Kim Coventry (UK) 6-1, 6-2
2. Lara Maurer (UK) def. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
3. Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Danielle Petrisko (UK) def. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) 6-1, 6-7, 6-4
5. Carolina Escomilla (UK) def. Camilla Caliari (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Jessica Guiggioli (UK) def. Daysi Espinal (LSU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
Doubles
1. Hedberg/Tucker (LSU) def. Coventry/Escomilla (UK) 8-4
2. Schwenk/Maurer (UK) def. Chiarelli/Dubova (LSU) 8-3
3. Petrisko/ Winebrenner (UK) def. Caliari/Espinal (LSU) 8-5