BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team will officially begin the 2009 dual season Saturday when the Lady Tigers take on Colorado at 11 a.m. CST at the Millennium House Hotel Bubble.
This marks the third straight year LSU will open the season on the road while the Buffaloes are 1-0 this season after defeating Air Force, 5-2, Tuesday.
“I am expecting a really tough match from Colorado,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “They have a solid team. We pulled out a close match last season at home against them. We are opening our season in a tough environment, but hopefully we will come out ready to play.”
Last season LSU pulled out a hard-fought win, 4-3, over Colorado in Baton Rouge as junior Hannah Robinson clinched the match in a three-set affair on court four. The Lady Tigers improved to 2-0 in the all-time series over Colorado with last season’s victory.
This season, LSU is once again led by two-time All-American senior Megan Falcon who enters the dual season with a 13-4 record and a No. 5 national ranking by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Falcon has teamed with senior Mykala Hedberg to go 12-3 in doubles in the fall, and the duo is ranked No. 17 nationally.
As a team LSU returns five of six starters from last season’s squad as juniors Nicole Kantor and second team All-SEC selection Hannah Robinson return as well as senior Staten Spencer who sat out the fall to recover from injury. Freshmen Whitney Wolf and Nicole Smith will fill the remaining spot and provide depth for the Lady Tigers.
Colorado is led by senior Monica Milewski who is ranked No. 110 nationally and is 8-1 on the season. The Buffaloes are also led by senior Franziska Jendrian who is 15-5 in singles play and junior Melisa Esposito who is 13-4 entering the match.
After the match LSU will travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to take on New Mexico Jan. 19 at 11 a.m. CST.