BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s team opened SEC play with a 5-2 win against No. 24-ranked Tennessee on Friday at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“I was really impressed with the type of attitude and intensity we came out with. We started playing a little tight in doubles, but in singles we had great fire and determination,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “I think we improved a lot today. I am really pleased and hopefully this will give us some confidence going into playing Georgia.”
The Lady Tigers jumped ahead early sweeping doubles play to grab the first point of the match.
Juniors Anastasiya Dubova and Tiffany Tucker finished first on court three defeating the Lady Vols’ Samantha Orlin and Zsofia Zubor, 8-2.
On court two, sophomores Mykala Hedberg and Staten Spencer secured the point as they won their match, 8-5, against Tennessee’s Blakeley Griffith and Vicky Jones.
LSU’s No. 11-ranked duo of Hannah Robinson and Megan Falcon completed the doubles sweep on court one downing their opponents Conner Vogel and Caitlin Whoriskey, 8-6.
In singles play, on courts four and five Spencer and Robinson both downed their opponents in straight sets to grab the next two points. This gave the Lady Tigers a 3-0 advantage over Tennessee.
On court four, Spencer defeated Orlin, 6-2, 6-2, and on court five Robinson downed Jones, 6-0, 6-2.
On court one, No. 7-ranked Falcon secured the win remaining undefeated on the season as she defeated No. 21-ranked Blakeley in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Hedberg followed with another win for LSU on court two as she defeated Vogel in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
On court three, freshman Nicole Kantor split the first two sets with her opponent Whoriskey. She then battled the third set in a 10-point tiebreaker, but was unable to grab the win as she fell 10-7.
On court six, Zubor grabbed the second point for the Lady Vols as LSU’s Tucker fought both of her matches into tiebreakers. She lost the first set 7-6(6) and fell in the second 7-6(2).
“The girls came with good focus and good attitude and we played a great match,” Minnis said.
Up next, the Lady Tigers continue SEC play against No. 16 Georgia on Sunday at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium at 11:30 a.m. CST.
Match Results
Tennessee vs. LSU
#51 LSU 5, #24 Tennessee 2
Singles competition
1. #7 Megan Falcon (LSU) def. #21 Blakeley Griffith (TENN) 6-2, 6-2
2. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Connor Vogel (TENN) 6-3, 6-1
3. Caitlin Whoriskey (TENN) def. Nicole Kantor (LSU) 3-6, 6-2, 10-7
4. Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Samantha Orlin (TENN) 6-2, 6-2
5. Hannah Robinson (LSU) def. Vicky Jones (TENN) 6-0, 6-2
6. Zsofia Zubor (TENN) def. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) 7-6(6), 7-5(2)
Doubles competition
1. #11 Megan Falcon/Hannah Robinson (LSU) def. Connor Vogel/Caitlin Whoriskey (TENN) 8-6
2. Mykala Hedberg/Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Blakeley Griffith/Vicky Jones (TENN) 8-5
3. Anastasiya Dubova/Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Samantha Orlin/Zsofia Zubor (TENN) 8-2
Match Notes:
Tennessee 5-2; National ranking #24
LSU 5–2; National ranking #51
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,5,1,2,3)