DALLAS – The LSU Lady Tiger tennis team fell to No. 26 SMU 5-2 on Sunday in Dallas, Texas.
With the loss, LSU fell to 1-4 on the season while SMU improved to 8-2.
The Lady Tigers were once again plagued by failing to win the doubles point. Despite leading early in a couple of doubles matches, SMU ended up collecting all three wins to claim the point.
“We were up once again in doubles, but we just are not closing teams out when we have the opportunity,” said LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis. “We have to keep plugging away to win the doubles point. SMU is a very good team and they played very well today. We just have to move on and get ready for Oklahoma State.”
The No. 39-ranked Lady Tiger tandem of Whitney Wolf and Keri Frankenberger rejoined together only to fall to Marta Lesniak and Aleksandra Malyarchikova of SMU 8-3.
LSU sophomore Kaitlin Burns and freshman Yvette Vlaar fell to 0-3 on the spring season, losing to the No. 80 duo of Heather Steinbauer and Edyta Cieplucha 8-5 which allowed SMU to pick up the doubles point.
In the final doubles match, Lady Tigers Ariel Morton and Ebie Wilson were unable to build off their win against Tulane, dropping their match 8-5 to the Mustang duo of Ashley Turpin and Shahzoda Hatamova.
In singles play, Wilson extended her win streak to four and her set streak to eight as she dispatched Hatamova in two sets 6-4, 6-2.
Morton was the only other Lady Tiger to pick up a singles win as she claimed a victory over Turpin after the Mustang junior retired down 6-3, 3-1 in the second set.
After losing the first set 6-1, Wolf responded by taking the second set 6-1 to draw even with Lesniak. However, the No. 5-ranked SMU junior rallied to take the third set and win 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
LSU fell in two sets in its other three matches. Malyarchikova proved too much for Vlaar, defeating the Lady Tiger freshman 6-1, 6-0 in the first match to end. Following her defeat to Cieplucha in doubles action, Burns fell to the Mustang sophomore 6-1, 6-3 in their singles match.
In the third match to conclude, Steinbauer’s 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Frankenberger sealed the match for the Mustangs.
LSU will finally host its first home match of the season Saturday at 3 p.m. when the Lady Tigers face No.68 Oklahoma State. The squad was originally scheduled to open with a pair of home matches on Feb. 2 against Texas Tech and Prairie View A&M, but due to inclement weather the Texas Tech match was moved to New Orleans and the Prairie View A&M match was postponed.
Follow the LSU women’s tennis team on Twitter @LSUwten and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUwten.
No. 26 SMU 5, LSU 2
February 20, 2011 at Dallas, Texas
Turpin Tennis Stadium
Singles
1. No. 5 Marta Lesniak (SMU) def. No. 60 Whitney Wolf (LSU), 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
2. Edyta Cieplucha (SMU), def. Kaitlin Burns (LSU), 6-1, 6-3
3. Heather Steinbauer (SMU), def. Keri Frankenberger (LSU), 6-3, 6-3
4. Ebie Wilson (LSU) def. Shahzoda Hatamova (SMU), 6-4, 6-2
5. No. 112 Aleksandra Malyarchikova (SMU), def. Yvette Vlaar (LSU), 6-1, 6-0
6. Ariel Morton (LSU), def. Ashley Turpin (SMU), 6-3, 3-1 (ret.)
Doubles
1. Lesniak/Malyarchikova (SMU), def. No. 39 Wolf/Frankenberger (LSU), 8-3
2. No. 80 Steinbauer/Cieplucha (SMU), def. Burns/Vlaar (LSU), 8-5
3. Turpin/Hatamova (SMU), def. Wilson/Morton (LSU), 8-5
Order of Finish
Singles: 5, 2, 3, 6, 4, 1
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Team Records
LSU: 1-4 (0-0 SEC)
SMU: 8-2 (0-0 Conference USA)