BATON ROUGE — For her outstanding efforts against then-ranked No. 13 Kentucky, Mykala Hedberg of the LSU women’s tennis team was named the Southeastern Conference player of the week by the league office Tuesday.
The honor marks the first time in her career that the senior has been named player of the week.
The Lady Tigers (8-4, 1-2 SEC) began their match against Kentucky with singles due to the threat of rain in the Baton Rouge area. The Lady Tigers were leading the Wildcats, 3-2, when Hedberg and Carolina Escamilla of Kentucky were in their third set. Hedberg defeated Escamilla as she clinched the first SEC victory of the season for the Lady Tigers.
The Oxnard, Calif. native knocked out Escamilla in a hotly-contested duel 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
In doubles, No. 14 duo of Megan Falcon and Hedberg cruised past 53rd-ranked Escamilla and Caroline Lilley 8-2. The duo extended their win streak to 11 as they have a 23-3 record on the season. The tandem continues to dominate as they lead the team with six victories over nationally-ranked opponents.
Hedberg’s defeat proved to be crucial as Kentucky won two out of three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point.
LSU will be back in action Wednesday as they square off against Tulsa and Grambling State beginning at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. CDT at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.