BATON ROUGE — The 21st-ranked LSU women’s tennis team pulled within 3-2 of No. 2 Georgia, but the Bulldogs rallied on court 4 to win the match, 4-2, Friday at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
Because of the threat of rain the two teams agreed to play singles first, and LSU (11-5, 1-3 SEC) got off to a fast start.
No. 15 Megan Falcon improved her career win total to 91 and moved into sole possession of 14th place in school history by crushing Georgia’s 52nd-ranked Yvette Hyndman 6-0, 6-1. Falcon upped her season record to 26-5, including a 13-1 dual mark and a 10-5 record against ranked opponents. Falcon is now one victory away from tying Vikki Chambers for 13th place as Chambers racked up 92 wins from 1989-93.
Trailing 1-0, Georgia (14-2, 4-1 SEC) responded by winning the next three matches to take a 3-1 lead and put the Lady Tigers on the ropes.
Georgia’s Cameron Ellis tied the match at 1-all by defeating Hannah Robinson 6-1, 6-2 on court 5. No. 74 Monika Dancevic put the Bulldogs ahead 2-1 when she beat Whitney Wolf 6-2, 6-3 on court 3, and 63rd-ranked Nadja Gilchrist upped the advantage to 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Mykala Hedberg on court 2.
Staten Spencer rallied on court 6 to tighten the match to 3-2 by beating Lara Fakhoury 2-6, 6-0, 6-3. After dropping the first set Spencer rattled off the next seven games and never looked back as she pulled out the hard-fought victory.
On court 4 Nicole Kantor won the first set in a tiebreaker against Naoko Ueshima 7-6 (5). Kantor trailed 3-0 to open the match, but she rallied to tie it at 3-apiece and eventually took the set.
Ueshima was able to build momentum in the second set and never relinquished it as she gave Georgia the 4-2 victory by winning the final two sets 6-0, 6-0.
Because Georgia had won the overall match and the threat of rain was increasing, both coaches agreed not to play doubles.
“I think Georgia showed why they are ranked No. 2 in the country,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “They needed points in key situations and came through in those situations and played very solid. I thought we fought extremely hard and gave a good effort, but they were the better team today.”
LSU will have no time to rest as the Lady Tigers will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on the 13th-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers (10-4, 3-2) at noon CDT Sunday at the Goodfriend Tennis Center. Tennessee fell at No. 23 Arkansas, 4-3 Friday.
#2 Georgia 4, #21 LSU 2
March 27, 2009 at Baton Rouge, La. (W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium)
Singles
1. #15 Megan Falcon (LSU) def. #52 Yvette Hyndman (UGA) 6-0, 6-1
2. #63 Nadja Gilchrist (UGA) def. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. #74 Monika Dancevic (UGA) def. Whitney Wolf (LSU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Naoko Ueshima (UGA) def. Nicole Kantor (LSU) 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-0
5. Cameron Ellis (UGA) def. Hannah Robinson (LSU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Lara Fakhoury (UGA) 2-6, 6-0, 6-3
Doubles
Not Played
Match Notes:
LSU 11-5, 1-3 SEC; National ranking #21
Georgia 14-2, 4-1 SEC; National ranking #2
Order of Finish:
Doubles (); Singles (1,5,3,2,6,4)