BATON ROUGE — The No. 25 LSU women’s tennis team is set to open the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Long Beach State at Stanford’s Taube Family Tennis Center Saturday in Palo Alto, Calif. at 11 a.m. CDT.
Lady Tiger fans can find a link to live video and live stats of the match at www.LSUsports.net.
LSU (13-10) enters the NCAA Tournament after a two week rest. The Lady Tigers last played on April 23 against No. 21 Ole Miss in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
“We are excited and ready to face Long Beach State in the NCAA Tournament. They are a solid team, and we are familiar with them since we played them last year at their place,” said head coach Tony Minnis. “Last season it was a very tough match, and we expect more of the same tomorrow. We need to set a tone in doubles. Last year we lost the doubles point against them, so we need to come out and try to get a positive start to the match.”
LSU has made an NCAA postseason appearance for the 15th time in school history and the 14th time in 15 years, and the Lady Tigers are looking to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1999 and 2000. Last season LSU defeated Washington State, 5-0, in the first round of the tournament in Berkeley, Calif., before falling to eventual national finalist Cal, 4-0, in the second round.
The Lady Tigers are led by senior three-time All-American Megan Falcon, who enters the match against the 49ers as the 13th-ranked player in the nation with a 31-7 overall record and an outstanding 96-17 career record. The All-SEC First Team member has claimed 14 wins over nationally-ranked opponents.
In doubles, No. 17 Falcon and partner Mykala Hedberg boast a 26-8 overall record with eight victories over nationally-ranked opponents.
Long Beach State (18-7, 8-0 Big West) features No. 110 Hannah Grady as she enters the match with a 26-10 overall record, including a 20-5 record in dual match play.
The 49ers recently clinched their sixth consecutive conference title.
The match will mark the second time the two teams have squared off. LSU faced Long Beach State last season in Long Beach, Calif., marking the first time the two teams had met, and the Lady Tigers took the match, 6-1.
Should the Lady Tigers advance past the 49ers, they will face the winner of No. 13 Stanford and Wichita State on Sunday at 3 p.m.