BATON ROUGE — After four hours of playing, the LSU women’s tennis team dropped a close 4-3 decision to Rice Saturday at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
“That was a really tough loss. All credit to Rice. They played a great match,” said head coach Tony Minnis.
“We’re going to have to make some changes. I’m really pleased that we came through on courts one, two and three in singles.”
Rice (7-3) took an early lead over LSU (2-6) as it took the doubles point. Seniors Nicole Kantor and Hannah Robinson finished first on court two as Rice’s Jessica Jackson and Alex Rasch blanked the Lady Tiger tandem 8-0.
On court one, the Lady Tigers’ top duo of Whitney Wolf and Keri Frankenberger gave tremendous effort but fell short to the 31st-ranked Owl pair of Julie Chao and Ana Guzman 8-6.
Rice completed the doubles sweep on court three as Rebecca Lin and Rebekka Hanle took over LSU’s Kaitlin Burns and Ebie Wilson 8-4.
In singles, Robinson finished first on court five as she fell to Lin 6-1, 6-3. On court four, Frankenberger lost her match to Guzman 6-1, 7-5. Rice’s Danny Trigo clinched the overall match for Rice against Wilson 6-4, 6-2 on court six.
On court one, sophomore Wolf played an outstanding match as she took down No. 63 Hanle 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. The win marked Wolf’s third career victory over a nationally-ranked foe.
Freshman Burns notched another victory as she extended her record to 7-0. The 5’9 Lady Tiger knocked out the Owls’ reigning Conference-USA Player of the Week Chao 6-4, 2-6, 1-0(7).
The match ended on court three when Kantor ousted No. 100 Jackson for her second ranked win of the season in a competitive duel 6-2, 4-6, 1-0(7).
The Lady Tigers will be back in action Friday to begin conference play as they take on South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.
#40 Rice 4, #72 LSU 3
Feb. 27, 2010 at Baton Rouge, La.
(W. T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium)
Singles
1. Whitney Wolf (LSU) def. #63 Rebekka Hanle (RU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. Kaitlin Burns (LSU) def. Julie Chao (RU) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7)
3. Nicole Kantor (LSU) def. #100 Jessica Jackson (RU) 6-2, 4-5, 1-0 (10-7)
4. Ana Guzman (RU) def. Keri Frankenberger (LSU) 6-1, 7-5
5. Rebecca Lin (RU) def. Hannah Robinson (LSU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Danny Trigo (RU) def. Ebie Wilson (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. #31 Julie Chao/Ana Guzman (RU) def. Whitney Wolf/Keri Frankenberger (LSU) 8-6
2. Jessica Jackson/Alex Rasch (RU) def. Hannah Robinson/Nicole Kantor (LSU) 8-0
3. Rebecca Lin/Rebekka Hanle (RU) def. Kaitlin Burns/Ebie Wilson (LSU) 8-4
Match Notes:
Rice 7-3; National ranking #40
LSU 2-6; National ranking #72
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,4,6,1,2,3)