BATON ROUGE — Coming off an 11-day layoff, the LSU women’s tennis team returns to conference play as the Lady Tigers travel to take on sixth-ranked Georgia at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex at 2 p.m. CDT on Friday.
LSU (8-4, 3-1 SEC) enters the match with Georgia (11-3, 3-1) tied atop the SEC West standings with Auburn and Arkansas. The Bulldogs enter the match tied with Tennessee for second in the East behind 4-0 Florida.
“Georgia is a good opportunity for us,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “Obviously, they are ranked sixth in the country, and they have a great program. We have had a long time off because we’ve been banged up, and I think the kids have had an opportunity to heal. We are really excited about this weekend and the opportunity to play Georgia.”
Hannah Robinson continues to lead LSU in wins as the sophomore holds an 18-5 singles record, including a 10-2 dual record. Second on the team in both categories is 19th-ranked Megan Falcon, who has a 17-4 overall record and a 9-2 mark in dual play.
The Lady Tigers are led in doubles by Falcon and Mykala Hedberg, who are 5-2 on the season competing at the No. 1 slot. The duo’s biggest win came against No. 23 Kentucky on March 7 when the Lady Tiger tandem defeated then-No. 50 Megan Broderick and Carolina Escamilla, 8-2.
Georgia features four ranked singles players and three ranked doubles teams. Yvette Hyndman is the Bulldogs’ highest ranked player as she checks in at No. 45 in the latest ITA rankings. Yvette’s older sister, Kelley Hyndman, is listed at No. 56, Monika Dancevic is No. 81 and Naoko Ueshima is No. 115.
In doubles, Kelley Hyndman is ranked in two different pairs as she and Dancevic are ranked No. 21, while she and Yvette Hyndman are No. 25. Yvette Hyndman is also listed in the rankings with Ueshima as the duo checks in at No. 57.
Last season, Georgia defeated LSU, 5-2, with the Lady Tigers picking up wins at the No. 1 singles position with Falcon and at the No. 5 spot with Robinson.
Fans can follow the match live by logging on to LSUsports.net/livestats.