BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s tennis team will finally open its home schedule this weekend when it plays host to Oklahoma State on Saturday and Xavier (New Orleans) on Sunday at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
Both matches are scheduled for 1 p.m. CST.
The Lady Tigers (1-4) were originally scheduled to play a pair of home matches against Texas Tech and Prairie View A&M on Feb. 2. However, due to inclement weather, the Texas Tech match was played in New Orleans on Feb. 3 and the Prairie View A&M match was postponed indefinitely.
Oklahoma State (1-6) heads to Baton Rouge in the midst of a six-match losing streak. They have not competed since losing to Wichita State 5-2 on Feb. 13.
“Oklahoma State is a very similar team to us,” said LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis. “They are much improved from last year and have lost some very tough matches this season. This is certainly going to be a close match.”
The Cowgirls began the season by defeating No. 73 Mississippi State but have since yet to win a match. Among their setbacks are losses to No. 44 Rice and No. 29 SMU, two common opponents of the Lady Tigers.
Sophomore Malika Rose guides the Cowgirls with a 6-0 singles record. She defeated Wichita State’s Carla Venticinque in three sets in her last match to keep her record perfect. Oklahoma State is led in doubles play by ace combo Kanyapat Narattana and Nataliya Shatkovskaya who are 3-4 this spring season.
Xavier (New Orleans) will make the short trip from New Orleans for a recently scheduled match with the Lady Tigers on Sunday.
The Gold Nuggets, members of the NAIA’s Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, hold a 2-4 overall record and a 1-0 conference clip. Their wins have come against Tougaloo College and Our Lady of the Lake. Xavier began the season with a 7-0 loss at Tulane, the same squad LSU recently beat by a 4-3 margin.
LSU sophomore Ebie Wilson hopes to continue her hot play of late. The former St. Paul’s (Ala.) Episcopal standout is on a four-match singles winning streak, having not lost even a set since the Lady Tigers’ opening match against Texas Tech on Feb. 3.
Fellow sophomore Kaitlin Burns looks to get back on track following a straight-set loss to SMU’s Edyta Cieplucha last Sunday that snapped her three-match winning streak. She is 0-2 this season in two-set matches and 3-0 in three-set affairs.
The Lady Tigers’ No. 39 doubles pair of Whitney Wolf and Keri Frankenberger enters the weekend still looking for its first win of the spring season. After a stellar fall campaign, the duo has started the spring with three consecutive losses.
Admission is free to all home LSU women’s tennis matches. Live stats will be provided for both weekend matches and can be followed at www.LSUsports.net/livestats.
Follow the LSU women’s tennis team on Twitter @LSUwten and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUwten.