BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team started off spring break in grand fashion as it swept conference rival Ole Miss and in-state rival Southern, both by a 7-0 score, Friday afternoon at the W.T. Dub Robinson Tennis Stadium.
The Lady Tigers (10-7, 2-5 SEC) only lost one doubles match and one set in singles during the two matches.
“I was pretty pleased with our play today,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “We picked up two solid wins. I thought we came out strong against Ole Miss and played well against Southern. Hopefully we can build some confidence off these wins.”
Against Ole Miss, Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg continue to gel as a doubles team as they dominated Nika Koukhartchouk and Kseniia Tokarieva, 8-1.
Anastasiya Dubova and Hannah Robinson struggled in their match against Ilona Somers and Soledad Podlipnik, as they fell by an 8-3 score.
The doubles point would come down to court three’s match of LSU’s Nicole Kantor and Staten Spencer against Preethi Subramanian and Carlin Cochran of Ole Miss. The Lady Tigers held strong and shut down the Ole Miss duo, 8-4, to capture the doubles point.
In singles, Falcon pushed her unblemished dual record to 16-0 by defeating Ilona Somers in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. The sophomore sensation is an outstanding 26-2 this season and 16 of her wins have come against ranked opponents.
A few minutes later, Hedberg followed Falcon’s path as she took out Nika Koukhartchouck, 6-0, 6-3.
The Lady Tigers continued their relentless attack as they captured straight-set victories on courts three, six and four.
Spencer was the only Lady Tiger to go to three sets. Since LSU had already clinched the win, the final set would be settled in a super tiebreaker. Spencer capped off LSU’s dominating performance by winning the tiebreaker against Preethi Subramanian, 10-7, to secure the LSU sweep.
LSU’s second match transpired in similar fashion.
The Lady Tigers cruised in doubles play, where they only lost two games.
In singles play, Tiffany Tucker was the first Lady Tiger to get on the scoreboard by blanking Klyelle Anthony, 6-0, 6-0. Tucker has won three straight matches.
“My goal was to be the first to win and I was able to accomplish my goal by staying focused in my match,” Tucker commented.
The Lady Tigers cruised the rest of the way as they won the final five matches to complete the sweep.
LSU will be back in action Sunday when it host Mississippi State at 1 p.m.
#32 LSU 7, Ole Miss 0
March 30, 2007 at Baton Rouge, La.
Singles competition:
1. #2 Megan Falcon (LSU) def. #97 Ilona Somers (UM) 6-1, 6-3
2. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Nika Koukhartchouck (UM), 6-0, 6-3
3. Nicole Kantor (LSU) def. Kseniia Tokarieva (UM), 6-2, 6-2
4. Hannah Robinson (LSU) def. Soledad Podlipnik (UM), 6-4, 6-4
5. Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Preethi Subramanian (UM) 6-2, 4-6, 10-7
6. Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) Carlin Cochran (UM), 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition:
1. Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Nika Koukhartchouk/Kseniia Tokarieva, (UM), 8-1
2. Ilona Somers/Soledad Podlipnik (UM) def. Hannah Robinson/Anastasiya Dubova (LSU), 8-3
3. Nicole Kantor/Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Preethi Subramanian/Carlin Cochran (UM), 8-4
Match notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3) Singles (1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 5)
#32 LSU 7, Southern 0
March 30, 2007 at Baton Rouge, La.
Singles competition:
1. Nicole Kantor (LSU) def. Janelle Morley (SU), 6-1, 6-1
2. Hannah Robinson (LSU) def. Megan Wiltz (SU), 6-1, 6-3
3. Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) def. Sydnay Lartigue (SU), 6-0, 6-1
4. Ashley Murdock (LSU) def. Bethleham Workerel (SU), 6-0, 6-1
5. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Klyelle Anthony (SU), 6-0, 6-0
6. Sloane Mathis (LSU) def. Gabrielle Marshall (SU), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition:
1. Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Janelle Morley/Bethleham Workerel (SU), 8-0
2. Anastasiya Dubova/Hannah Robinson (LSU) def. Kyelle Anthony/Sydney Lartigue (SU), 8-0
3. Nicole Kantor/Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Gabrielle Marshall//Megan Wiltz (SU), 8-2
Match notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3) Singles (5, 1, 3, 6, 2, 4)