BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team began their home play on the right note, handing No. 73 SMU (6-1) their first loss of the season Friday, 6-1.
The victory marked the Lady Tigers’ fourth victory over a nationally ranked opponent.
LSU (4-1) opened the day sweeping the Mustangs in doubles. Hannah Robinson and Whitney Wolf cruised past SMU’s Monica Neveklovska and Kristen Reid 8-4, finishing first on court two. Seventeenth-ranked Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg took down Natalia Bubien and Pavi Francis 8-2 on court one, clinching the doubles point, bringing their record to an oustanding16-3. Nicole Kantor and Staten Spencer sealed the sweep by defeating Nicole Briceno and Kseniia Tokarieva 8-6 on court three.
In singles, Robinson finished first on court five, dominating Neveklovska 6-0, 6-2. On court four, Kantor gave up one game in two sets, defeating Kristen Reid 6-0, 6-1. Freshman Nicole Smith clinched the overall match by ousting Casey Kennedy 6-3, 6-0 on court three.
On court one fifth-ranked Falcon beat the Mustangs’s top competitor Bubien 6-1, 6-2. Falcon increased her season record to an impressive 17-4 and 81-14 for her career.
Wolf fought hard against Briceno but was unable to come out with the victory with a 6-3, 7-5 loss on court three.
Hedberg was down two breaks of serve in the first set at 5-2 and rallied back to tie the set at 5-5. She then went on to claim the first set against Francis 7-5 and never looked back. She raced past Francis 6-2 in the second set, finishing last on court two, giving the Lady Tigers the final score, 6-1.
“It was a very good win. I was really impressed with our team and our very hard-fought victory. We have to continue getting better and prepare for a very tough Texas A&M team,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis.
The Lady Tigers look to improve their record by traveling to College Station, Texas to battle the No. 2 Texas A&M Aggies Sunday at 1 p.m. CST.
#23 LSU 6, #73 SMU 1
Feb. 6, 2009 at Baton Rouge, La. (W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium)
Singles competition
1. #5 Megan Falcon (LSU) def. Natalia Bubien (SMU) 6-1, 6-2
2. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Pavi Francis (SMU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Nicole Briceno (SMU) def. Whitney Wolf (LSU) 6-3, 7-5
4. Nicole Kantor (LSU) def. Kristen Reid (SMU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Hannah Robinson (LSU) def. Monica Neveklovska (SMU) 6-0, 6-2
6. Nicole Smith (LSU) def. Casey Kennedy (SMU) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #17 Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Natalia Bubien/Pavi Francis (SMU) 8-2
2. Hannah Robinson/Whitney Wolf (LSU) def. Kristen Reid/Monica Neveklovska (SMU) 8-4
3. Nicole Kantor/Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Nicole Briceno/Kseniia Tokarieva (SMU) 8-6
Match Notes:
SMU 6-0; National ranking #73
LSU 3-1; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,4,6,1,3,2)