TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The LSU women’s tennis team lost a hotly-contested doubles point and could not rebound in singles as the Lady Tigers fell to Florida State, 5-2, at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center on Sunday.
In doubles, court two was first to finish as Florida State’s Ania Rynarzewska and Tapiwa Marobela defeated Tiffany Tucker and Hannah Robinson, 8-1. However, the Lady Tigers fought back on court one as Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg pulled away from Carolin Walter and Katie Rybakova to win, 8-3.
The doubles point came down to court three, and the match was a battle. Tied at five games all, LSU’s Nicole Kantor and Staten Spencer broke FSU’s Jessica Wente and Lauren Macfarlane to go up 6-5. However, the Seminoles answered by winning the next three games to win the match, 8-6, and claim the doubles point.
In singles, the Lady Tigers quickly answered as Robinson cruised past Wente, 6-3, 6-1, on court five to even the match at 1-1. Florida State responded by winning on court three as Walter beat Tucker, 7-5, 6-1, to put the Seminoles up 2-1.
Once again LSU battled back as No. 15 Falcon took down No. 46 Rybakova, 7-5, 6-3. Falcon fought back from a 5-2 deficit in the first set to win 7-5 and then went up 4-0 in the second set before finally losing another game. Her victory evened the match at 2-2 and pushed her dual record to 7-0.
On court two, FSU’s Macfarlane gave the Seminoles a 3-2 lead by beating Hedberg, 6-3, 6-2.
Spencer took the first set, 6-2, on court six, but her nagging hip injury acted up in the second set as she lost, 6-1. FSU’s Federica Suess quickly went up 5-2 in the third, but Spencer would not go quietly as she won two straight games to make it 5-4. However, Suess won the next game to clinch the match and the victory for the Seminoles.
After dropping the first set 6-4, Kantor beat Rynarzewska, 6-3, in the second to force a third-set tiebreaker. The tiebreaker was back and forth before Rynarzewska pulled it out, 11-9, to push the final margin to 5-2.
“It was a tough loss for us,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “I thought we played well. We just have to do better in three-set matches, and we need to improve our doubles. We had an opportunity to win doubles when we came back on courts one and three, but we have to be able to pull out thee-set matches.”
LSU will be back in action Feb. 29 when the Lady Tigers host Alabama at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium to open the SEC schedule.
#20 Florida State 5, #35 LSU 2
February 24, 2008 at Tallahassee, Fla.
Singles competition:
1. #15 Megan Falcon (LSU) def. #46 Katie Rybakova (FSU) 7-5, 6-3
2. Lauren Macfarlane (FSU) def. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Carolin Walter (FSU) def. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) 7-5, 6-1
4. Ania Rynarzewska (FSU) def. Nicole Kantor (LSU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9)
5. Hannah Robinson (LSU) def. Jessica Wente (FSU) 6-3, 6-1
6. Federica Suess (FSU) def. Staten Spencer (LSU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
Doubles competition:
1. Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Carolin Walter/Katie Rybakova (FSU) 8-3
2. Ania Rynarzewska/Tapiwa Marobela (FSU) def. Tiffany Tucker/Hannah Robinson (LSU) 8-1
3. Jessica Wente/Lauren Macfarlane (FSU) def. Staten Spencer/Nicole Kantor (LSU) 8-6
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,3,1,2,6,4)