NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After beating No. 15 Kentucky on the road Friday, the 21st-ranked LSU women’s tennis team could not pull off its second top-20 win of the weekend as No. 20 Vanderbilt snapped the Lady Tigers’ three-match conference win streak, 7-0, at the Currey Tennis Center on Sunday.
LSU (8-4, 3-1 SEC) could never get it going as Vanderbilt (9-3, 1-3) jumped out early by sweeping doubles. The Lady Tiger tandem of Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg entered the match with a 5-1 record, including an upset win over Kentucky’s 50th-ranked Megan Broderick and Carolina Escamilla, 8-2.
However, the duo fell behind Vandy’s Amanda Taylor and Courtney Ulery, 5-2, before answering with three straight games to square it up at 5-5, but the Vanderbilt duo responded by winning the next three games to win the match.
In singles, No. 18 Falcon won the first set against No. 35 Taylor, 6-2, but Taylor responded by winning, 7-5, 6-1.
Sophomore Hannah Robinson saw here six-match win streak go down on court four as No. 51 Ulery won, 6-1, 6-2.
Junior Staten Spencer won the first set on court six, 6-2, but Keilly Ulery came back to win the next two sets, 6-3, 6-2.
On court two, Hedberg jumped out to a 5-2 lead over No. 37 Catherine Newman, but the Vanderbilt sophomore rallied to win, 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the match.
“That was a tough match,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “Vanderbilt came out and took it to us. We are at the midpoint of the season, and we are a little banged up. We are looking forward to getting some time off to get healthy and prepare ourselves for the next match.”
LSU will be back in action March 16 when the Lady Tigers will play a non-conference doubleheader against Prairie View at 1 p.m. and Northwestern State at 5 p.m.
#20 Vanderbilt 7, #21 LSU 0
March 9, 2008 at Nashville, Tenn.
Singles competition:
1. #35 Amanda Taylor (VU) def. #18 Megan Falcon (LSU) 2-6, 7-5, 6-1
2. #37 Catherine Newman (VU) def. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Taka Bertrand (VU) def. Nicole Kantor (LSU) 6-0, 6-0
4. #51 Courtney Ulery (VU) def. Hannah Robinson (LSU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Staten Spencer (LSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Caroline Ferrell (VU) def. Kylie Adamek (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. Amanda Taylor/Courtney Ulery (VU) def. Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) 8-5
2. Caroline Ferrell/Catherine Newman (VU) def. Hannah Robinson/Tiffany Tucker (LSU) 8-2
3. Taka Bertrand/Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Staten Spencer/Nicole Kantor (LSU) 8-6
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,4,2,5,1,6)