BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team placed five players on the fall 2007 Southwest regional rankings, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Friday.
Headlining the list for the Lady Tigers was junior sensation Megan Falcon, who topped the list at No. 1. The honor marks the second straight year Falcon has been ranked No. 1 in the region, as the Alameda, Calif., native finished first in the final regional rankings last season as well.
Junior Staten Spencer and sophomore Hannah Robinson were ranked No. 20 and 21 respectively. Senior Tiffany Tucker was ranked 26th, and junior Mykala Hedberg checked in at No. 29.
“We are pretty pleased with the regional rankings,” head coach Tony Minnis said. “Hopefully it will give our kids confidence to play at a higher level. This is by far the most representation we have had in our region.”
Falcon led the Lady Tigers during the fall, finishing 5-2 in singles with four wins over ranked opponents, highlighted by a victory over eighth-ranked Georgia Rose of Northwestern to win the consolation title of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships.
Robinson was also successful in the fall as the Monroe native finished 6-2 in singles play. Robinson captured the Maroon bracket consolation title at the Gopher Invitational in September, and she also won the North consolation title at the Wilson/ITA Southwest Regional Championships in October.
In doubles, LSU also placed two teams in the top 15. The combination of Staten Spencer and Mykala Hedberg was ranked No. 4 while the All-American duo of Megan Falcon and Hannah Robinson was eighth.
Spencer and Hedberg finished the fall with a 3-1 record, including a run to the semifinals of the SEC Fall Coaches Classic. In the quarterfinals, Spencer and Hedberg upset the nation’s 21st-ranked duo of Amanda Taylor and Courtney Ulery of Vanderbilt 8-5.
The Lady Tigers will be back in action to kick off the spring schedule at the Virginia Classic Jan. 18-20.
ITA Southwest Region Fall Rankings
Singles
1. Megan Falcon, LSU
2. Zusana Zemenova, Baylor
3. Lenka Broosova, Baylor
4. Taylor Ormond, Baylor
5. Jana Bielikova, Baylor
6. Nina Munch-Soegaard, TCU
7. Anna Sydorska, TCU
8. Karolina Filipiak, Baylor
9. Olga Panova, Texas A&M Corpus Christi
10. Julie Chao, Rice
11. Courtney Sauft, Texas
12. Christi Liles, Texas A&M
13. Vanja Corovic, Texas
14. Maggie Melo, Texas
15. Mariaryeri Gutierrez, Lamar
16. Macall Harkins, TCU
17. Elze Potgieter, Texas A&M
18. Natalie Bubien, Southern Methodist
19. Samantha VanderDrift, Texas Tech
20. Staten Spencer, LSU
21. Hannah Robinson, LSU
22. Caroline Larsson, Texas
23. Anna Blagodarova, Texas A&M
24. Pavi Francis, Southern Methodist
25. Kewa Nichols, TCU
26. Tiffany Tucker, LSU
27. Stephanie Davison, Texas
28. Klara Jagosova, Texas-Arlington
29. Mykala Hedberg, LSU
30. Irina Sotnikova, Sam Houston State
Insufficient data: Emilija Arnaudovska, SLU
Doubles
1. Broosova/Zemenova, Baylor
2. Macall Sydorska, TCU
3. Corovic/Milic, Texas
4. Spencer/Hedberg, LSU
5. Gutierrez/Martinez, Lamar
6. Bielikova/Filipiak, Baylor
7. Blagodarova/Sammons, Texas A&M
8. Falcon/Robinson, LSU
9. Joubert/Ranganathan, North Texas
10. Clifford/Liles, Texas A&M
11. Davidson/Larson, Texas
12. Durham/Garland, Texas Tech
13. Potgieter/VanderDrift, Texas Tech
14. Mello/Zauft, Texas
15. Filipiak/Ormond, Baylor