BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s tennis team closes out a four-match homestand when it hosts No. 27 South Carolina on Sunday at 1 p.m. CST at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
The Lady Tigers (2-6, 0-1 SEC) hope to bounce back from Friday’s 6-0 loss to No. 1 Florida. South Carolina heads to Baton Rouge fresh off a 4-3 loss at No. 16 Arkansas on Friday.
“South Carolina is a very talented team,” said LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis. “They have consistently been in the top 20. We need to capitalize on our home matches, so hopefully we will continue to play hard and come out with a win.”
The Gamecocks (6-3, 0-1 SEC) are led by freshman Dominika Kanakova who has compiled an 8-1 singles record playing out of the No. 4 and 5 slots this spring. She also went 7-3 in the fall season.
Anya Morgina, ranked No. 65 in the ITA singles rankings, posted a 10-3 record in the fall campaign. The South Carolina junior has somewhat struggled this spring, collecting a 4-5 singles record. She comes in, however, off a 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 23 Anouk Tigu of Arkansas on Friday.
The Gamecock combo of Kanakova and Dijana Stojic propel South Carolina in doubles play. The No. 54-ranked duo has amassed a 5-3 spring season record including a win over Purdue’s then-No. 13 doubles team of Jennifer Rabot and Mara Schmidt.
LSU junior Whitney Wolf will look to guide the Lady Tigers against South Carolina. Despite falling to No. 7 Allie Will of Florida on Friday, Wolf has been playing well of late and consequently moved up to No. 52 in the latest ITA singles rankings released this past week.
After falling for the first time in over a month on Friday, sophomore Ebie Wilson will aim to begin a new streak on Sunday. The Mobile, Ala., product enters play against South Carolina with a 5-2 singles record this spring and was moved up to the No. 3 position against Florida after beginning the season at the No. 5 post.
Wilson will also attempt to help LSU pick up the doubles point against the Gamecocks. Teaming with LSU freshman Ariel Morton, the two have won two of their last three doubles matches.
The Lady Tigers fell to South Carolina 5-2 last season in Columbia. Meanwhile LSU came away with a 5-2 win the last time the Gamecocks visited Baton Rouge in the 2008-09 season.
Admission is free to all home LSU women’s tennis matches. Live stats will be provided for Sunday’s match 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.