KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The LSU women’s tennis team could not open Southeastern Conference play with a win, dropping its Friday match to No. 29 Tennessee, 7-0, at Goodfriend Tennis Center.
The Lady Tigers (7-2, 0-1 SEC) suffered just their second loss of the season, while the Lady Vols improved to 4-6 (1-0 SEC).
“We didn’t fight hard enough today,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “Give credit to Tennessee because they controlled the momentum of the match and took advantage of every opportunity we gave them.”
The match was moved to Tennessee’s indoor complex because of low temperatures outside.
LSU opened the match with only its second doubles point loss of the season. Still without Lauren Seaman, a mainstay at No. 1 singles, the Lady Tigers split on courts two and three, and the decision came down to court one between Mykala Hedberg and Tiffany Tucker and Tennessee’s Melissa Schaub and Ghizela Schutte.
The Tennessee tandem jumped out to a 3-0 lead and seemed to be in complete control at 6-1. But Hedberg and Tucker battled from that 6-1 deficit and made it 6-4. They bettered that to 6-5 after breaking the Lady Vols duo’s serve.
However, they were then broken themselves, as Tennessee grabbed the 7-5 advantage followed by the clincher for an 8-6 win.
While Marina Chiarelli and Anastasiya Dubova fell on court two to No. 56-ranked Blakeley Griffith and Vicky Jones, Caliari and Espinal recorded an 8-4 win on court three over Stephanie Harris and Samantha Orlin.
Since UT’s indoor facility only has four courts, only four singles matches began upon completion of doubles. All four of those matches went in Tennessee’s favor.
Tucker dropped her match first on court four to Orlin, 6-2, 6-1. She was followed by Mykala Hedberg, who was defeated by Jones on court one 6-1, 6-1.
Then Griffith clinched the match for the Lady Vols with her 6-1, 6-3 victory over Dubova on court four.
Chiarelli continued to fight on court two while Caliari and Espinal both came onto the court to begin their singles matches. Chiarelli eventually dropped her match to Schaub, 6-3, 6-3, only the senior’s second dual-match loss this year.
Caliari and Espinal each forced third-set super-tiebreakers in their matches. Unfortunately for the Lady Tigers, both came out on the losing end. Caliari lost hers, 10-3, and Espinal battled hard, but dropped hers 11-9.
The Lady Tigers return to action Sunday in their second SEC match at No. 23 Georgia.
MATCH RESULTS
Singles
1. Vicky Jones (UT) def. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Melissa Schaub (UT) def. Marina Chiarelli (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Blakeley Griffith (UT) def. Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Samantha Orlin (UT) def. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Ghizela Schutte (UT) def. Camila Caliari (LSU) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(3)
6. Stephanie Harris (UT) def. Daysi Espinal (LSU) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0(9)
Doubles
1. Melissa Schaub/Ghizela Schutte (UT) def. Mykala Hedberg/Tiffany Tucker (LSU) 8-5
2. #56 Blakeley Griffith/Vicky Jones (UT) def. Marina Chiarelli/Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) 8-3
3. Camila Caliari/Daysi Espinal (LSU) def. Stephanie Harris/Samantha Orlin (UT) 8-4
Match Notes
LSU #46, 7-2 (0-1 SEC)
UT #29, 4-6 (1-0 SEC)
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3,1) Singles (4,1,3,2,5,6)