FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — After a one hour rain delay, the No. 22 LSU women’s tennis team fell to No. 14 Arkansas, 4-3, in Fayetteville, Ark. at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center.
“It was a very tough loss to a great team,” said head coach Tony Minnis. “We have to get ready for the SEC Tournament. We need to get the momentum back that we had a couple of weeks ago.”
Arkansas (13-6, 8-3 SEC) jumped to an early lead as it took the doubles point. Court two finished first as the 61st-ranked tandem of Ela Kaluder and Aurelija Miseviciute beat Nicole Kantor and Staten Spencer 8-4.
No. 25 Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg took down 20th-ranked Nanar Airapetian and Anouk Tigu 9-7 on court one. The duo extended their record to 26-7 and eight wins over nationally-ranked opponents.
The Razorbacks clinched the doubles point on court three when Emily Carbone and Kate Lukomskaya defeated Hannah Robinson and Whitney Wolf 8-5.
Arkansas did not have enough players, so the Lady Tigers were given a point for court six.
On court two, No. 79 Kaluder of Arkansas defeated Mykala Hedberg 6-1, 6-0.
No. 11 Falcon fell to second-ranked Miseviciute 6-2, 6-1 on court one.
Razorback Lukomskaya clinched the overall match for Arkansas when she beat Robinson on court five 6-3, 6-4.
Wolf, a freshman from Pride, La., claimed her first Southeastern Conference victory on court three as she took down Carbone in a hotly-contested first set 7-6(5) and 6-1 in the second set.
On court three, Kantor gave a tremendous effort as she raced past Airapetian 4-6, 6-4 and then 1-0 (10-5) in a super-tiebreaker. Kantor gave the match its final score of 4-3.
The Lady Tigers (13-9, 3-7) will be back in action again in Fayetteville at the SEC Tournament from April 23-26.
#14 Arkansas 4, #22 LSU 3
April 18, 2009 at Fayetteville, Ark. (UA Varsity Tennis Courts)
Singles
1. #2 Aurelija Miseviciute (ARK) def. #11 Megan Falcon (LSU), 6-2, 6-1
2. Ela Kaluder (ARK) def. Mykala Hedberg (LSU), 6-1, 6-0
3. Nicole Kantor (LSU) def. Nanar Airapetian (Ark), 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(10-5)
4. Whitney Wolf (LSU) def. Emily Carbone (ARK), 7-6(5), 6-1
5. Kate Lukomskaya (ARK) def. Hannah Robinson (LSU), 6-3, 6-4
6. Staten Spencer def. No Player (ARK), by default
Doubles
1. #25 Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. #20 Nanar Airapetian/Anouk Tigu (ARK), 9-7.
2. #61 Aurelija Miseviciute/Ela Kaluder (ARK) def. Staten Spencer/Nicole Kantor (LSU), 8-4.
3. Emily Carbone/Kate Lukomskaya (ARK) def. Hannah Robinson/Whitney Wolf (LSU), 8-5.
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,2,1,5,4,3)
Match Notes
LSU (13-9, 3-7 SEC); National ranking #22
Arkansas (13-6, 8-3, SEC); National ranking #14