BERKELEY, Calif. — The LSU women’s tennis team improved to 11-0 in matches when they clinch the doubles point as the Lady Tigers pulled away from Washington State to win, 5-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the California Regional on Friday.
In doubles, LSU (15-9) took control early as Hannah Robinson and Tiffany Tucker dominated their match on court 2 with an 8-2 victory over Washington State’s (16-10) Marina Nicolas and Bianca Selaru. The LSU duo jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Nicolas and Selaru took the next two games to make it 6-2. However, Robinson and Tucker closed it out by breaking WSU’s tandem, and Tucker finished the match on an ace down the middle.
LSU’s Nicole Kantor and Staten Spencer gave LSU the 1-0 lead by clinching on court 3. With the match even at two games all, Kantor and Spencer won the next three games to build a 5-2 lead. After WSU’s Aleksandra Cekic and Aleksandra Stefanova won the next game to make it 5-3, LSU’s duo broke the WSU pair and held serve to go up 7-3. However, Cekic and Stefanova would fight back to make it 7-5, but Kantor and Spencer broke the WSU pair to clinch doubles.
On court 1, LSU’s 22nd-ranked Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg fought back from a 4-1 deficit to pull ahead 6-5 against Washington State’s Ekaterina Burduli and Ekaterina Kamendova, but the match was called when Kantor and Spencer clinched.
“I was really pleased and impressed with how we played, especially winning the first set on all six courts,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “It is good to get a match like that under our belts. We hadn’t played in awhile, so I was really pleased with how we played and competed today.”
In singles, 15th-ranked Falcon put LSU up 2-0 with a straight-set, 6-2, 6-1, victory over No. 47 Burduli. After falling behind 1-2 early, Falcon reeled off 10 games in a row to win the first set 6-2 and go up 5-0 in the second.
Next to finish was Kantor on court 4 as she knocked off Cekic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to put the Lady Tigers up 3-0.
Right behind Kantor was Hedberg on court 2. Hedberg clinched the match for the Lady Tigers with a hard-fought, 7-5, 6-4, over Stefanova.
Even though Hedberg clinched the overall match, Tucker had started match point on court 6. By rule, Tucker’s match was official because she started the point during Hedberg’s final point, so Tucker gave LSU a 5-0 final margin with her win over Gomez, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.
Both Robinson and Spencer were leading in their matches on courts 3 and 5, respectively when the match was called.
LSU will face host eighth-ranked Cal (17-5) on Saturday at noon in the second round for the right to advance to Tulsa, Okla., in the round of 16. The match between the Lady Tigers and the Golden Bears will be the first between the two programs.
#27 LSU 5, #42 Washington State 0
NCAA Tournament First Round
May 9, 2008 at Berkeley, Calif.
Singles competition:
1. #15 Megan Falcon (LSU) def. #47 Ekaterina Burduli (WSU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Aleksandra Stefanova (WSU) 7-5, 6-4
3. Hannah Robinson (LSU) led Ekaterina Kamendova (WSU) 6-1, 2-6, 4-3, unfinished
4. Nicole Kantor (LSU) def. Aleksandra Cekic (WSU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Staten Spencer (LSU) led Bianca Selaru (WSU) 6-4, 2-5, unfinished
6. Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Jessica Gomez (WSU) 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
Doubles competition:
1. #22 Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) led Ekaterina Burduli/Ekaterina Kamendova (WSU) 6-5, unfinished
2. Hannah Robinson/Tiffany Tucker (LSU) def. Marina Nicolas/Bianca Selaru (WSU) 8-2
3. Nicole Kantor/Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Aleksandra Cekic/Aleksandra Stefanova (WSU) 8-5
bOrder of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,4,2,6)