BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team halted its four-match losing skid Wednesday when it defeated Prairie View A&M, 6-1, at W.T. Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“It just feels really good to get another win in,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “We put our mind to winning this one and took care of business.”
The Lady Tigers improved to 8-5 with the win, while the Lady Panthers dropped to 1-7. This match marked the first meeting of the two teams, placing LSU ahead, 1-0, in the all-time series.
Walk-on senior Tara Mitnick made her first appearance for the Lady Tigers on Wednesday, starting on the No. 3 doubles court with Lauren Seaman. The pair won that match, 8-6, over Nicole Banks and Charlie Cooksie.
The Lady Tigers had already clinched the doubles point before that match ended with quick wins on the Nos. 1 and 2 courts. Daysi Espinal and Mykala Hedberg defeated Melanie Brown and Michelle Scurry first on court two, 8-0.
Marina Chiarelli and Anastasiya Dubova clinched the first point for LSU with an 8-0 win over Marika Dawkins and Antionette Majors on court two.
The Panthers claimed their only point with the first singles win by Cooksey over Mitnick on court six, 6-0, 6-0.
But LSU dominated on the remaining singles courts, winning them all in straight sets with only two games allowed to PAMU the entire time.
Seaman, back in the lineup for the first time since Feb. 26, clinched the match with her 6-1, 6-0 drubbing of Scurry on court four.
Chiarelli also defeated her opponent, 6-1, 6-0, while the other four Lady Tigers recorded 6-0, 6-0 victories on their respective courts.
The Lady Tigers have the weekend off and will resume play in another midweek non-conference battle versus Kansas on Tuesday, March 21.
MATCH RESULTS
#60 LSU 6, Prairie View A&M 1
Singles competition
1. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Marika Dawkins (PAMU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) def. Antionette Majors (PAMU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) def. Melanie Brown (PAMU) 6-0, 2-0
4. Lauren Seaman (LSU) def. Michele Scurry (PAMU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Margaret Banks (PAMU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Charlie Cooksey (PAMU) def. Tara Mitnick (LSU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Marina Chiarelli/Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) def. Marika Dawkins/Antionette Majors (PAMU) 8-2
2. Mykala Hedberg/Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Melanie Brown/Michele Scurry (PAMU) 8-0
3. Lauren Seaman/Tara Mitnick (LSU) def. Charlie Cooksey/Margaret Banks (PAMU) 8-6
Match Notes:
Prairie View A&M 1-7
LSU 8-5 (0-4 SEC); National ranking #60
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,5,4,1,2)