BATON ROUGE — After almost five hours of playing, the No. 24 LSU women’s tennis team upset 16th-ranked Florida, 4-3, for the first time in LSU’s program history.
“The match was incredible. I thought it was the best played match of the season start to finish,” said head coach Tony Minnis.
The Lady Tigers (12-6, 2-4 SEC) jumped out ahead early as they claimed the doubles point.
Nicole Kantor and Staten Spencer finished first on court three as they took down Brooke Allen and Barbara Pinterova of Florida (10-7, 4-3) 8-2.
On court one, 17th-ranked Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg never fell behind as they clinched the doubles point for the Lady Tigers against No. 80 Marrit Boonstra and Joana Mather 8-4. The Lady Tiger’s top tandem advanced their record to 25-4 for the season as Hedberg brought her career doubles match victories to 85.
After taking an early lead, Hannah Robinson and Whitney Wolf fell to the Gator duo of 43rd-ranked Jessica Alexander and Anastasia Revzina in a back and forth affair 8-7(2).
In singles, No. 38 Revzina finished first on court two as she put the Gators on the board when she defeated Hedberg 6-2, 6-2.
On court six, Spencer cruised past Allen 6-1, 6-1 as she gave the Lady Tigers a 2-1 advantage.
Wolf, a native of Pride, La., fell to Mather 6-1, 6-1 on court three, and Alexander beat Kantor 6-3, 7-5 on court four.
On court five, Robinson gave a tremendous effort as she took her first set over Pinterova in an epic 7-5 battle. She then went on to take the second set 6-1. Robinson’s two-set victory tied the score at 3-3.
With the score tied, the overall match point rested on court one.
Seventeenth-ranked Falcon won the first set with ease as she defeated No. 8 Boonstra 6-1. In the second set, Boonstra wasted no time in bouncing back and took the lead as she and Falcon fought back and forth throughout the set. Falcon could never jump ahead as Boonstra won 7-5.
Though the third set was a close one, Falcon never backed down and dueled to the end. She held the lead for the entire set and notched a 7-5 win as she clinched the overall match.
“I don’t know what adjectives to use to describe Megan Falcon. She’s been phenomenal since she’s been here at LSU,” said Minnis. “She has so much heart and determination. I’m proud of her and proud of the team. I thought that was a great win for our team.”
Falcon’s individual match marked the first time in her career that the outcome of an overall match relied on her racket.
The Lady Tigers will be back in action Sunday to square off against South Carolina at 1 p.m. CDT at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium. The match will serve as the last home match of the season and Senior Day as the senior team members will be honored.
#24 LSU 4, #16 Florida 3
April 3, 2009 at Baton Rouge, La. (W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium)
Singles
1. #17 Megan Falcon (LSU) def. #8 Marrit Boonstra (UF) 6-1, 5-7, 7-5
2. #38 Anastasia Revzina (UF) def. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Joana Mather (UF) def. Whitney Wolf (LSU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Jessica Alexander (UF) def. Nicole Kantor (LSU) 6-3, 7-5
5. Hannah Robinson (LSU) def. Barbara Pinterova (UF) 7-5, 6-1
6. Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Brooke Allen (UF) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
1. #17 Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. #80 Marrit Boonstra/Joana Mather (UF) 8-4
2. #43 Jessica Alexander/Anastasia Revzina (UF) def. Hannah Robinson/Whitney Wolf (LSU) 8-7 (7-2)
3. Nicole Kantor/Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Brooke Allen/Barbara Pinterova (UF) 8-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,6,3,4,5,1)
Match Notes:
LSU 12-6; National ranking #24
Florida 10-7; National ranking #16