BATON ROUGE – The LSU Lady Tigers tennis team returns to SEC play when it hosts No. 7 Georgia on Friday at 3 p.m. CDT at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
LSU (9-7, 3-1 SEC) is fresh off sweeping a doubleheader against Colorado and Southern on Wednesday. Georgia (10-1, 4-0 SEC) enters Friday’s contest following an eight-day break from competition. The Bulldogs defeated then-No. 24 Yale 6-1 on March 16 in Athens.
“Georgia is one of the best teams in the country,” said LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis. “We are excited about the opportunity to play them at home and are looking forward to the challenge.”
The Bulldogs are led by 2010 NCAA singles national champion Chelsey Gullickson. The highly-accomplished Georgia junior earned All-America honors in both singles and doubles in her first two seasons in Athens. She has also had the honor of playing in several prestigious events including the 2007 Wimbledon Juniors and most recently the 2010 U.S. Open. Currently ranked No. 37 nationally in singles, she is 6-3 this spring including compiling a 5-1 record against nationally-ranked opponents.
In addition to Gullickson, the Bulldogs have four other players ranked in the top 120 of the current ITA singles rankings. Maho Kowase, who currently checks in at No. 84 in the rankings, has put together an 8-2 record this spring while playing primarily out of the No. 2 position. The Georgia freshman went 16-5 in the fall and her overall 24-7 record leads the team.
Gullickson pairs with freshman Kate Fuller to guide the squad’s doubles team. The ninth-ranked Bulldog duo has put together an impressive spring season thus far, amassing a 9-1 record which includes four wins against ranked opponents. The tandem is also currently riding a seven-match winning streak.
Junior college transfer Olivia Howlett will make her long-awaited debut for the Lady Tigers on Friday after sitting out the beginning of the season due to eligibility issues. In two seasons at Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College, the Bridgewater, England, native won an NJCAA national championship and was a four-time All-American. She finished the 2009-10 season ranked No. 1 in the ITA junior college singles rankings and came in at No. 3 in doubles.
LSU’s Ebie Wilson has continued her red-hot play out of the No. 3 slot for the Lady Tigers. The sophomore has composed a six-match singles winning streak and has only lost once since Feb. 3. She defeated Colorado’s Winde Janssens 6-0, 6-2 on Wednesday to better her record to 11-2 and also extended her set win streak to eight.
Fellow sophomore Kaitlin Burns picked up two straight-set victories on Wednesday, beating Abbie Probert of Colorado 7-5, 6-0 and Southern’s Kathryn Curtis 6-2, 6-1. The Wilmington, N.C., product has now won four of her last five singles matches while playing at the No. 2 position for LSU.
The Lady Tigers continue to be led in doubles play by sophomore Keri Frankenberger and freshman Yvette Vlaar. The LSU pair collected two doubles wins on Wednesday after having their six-match winning streak snapped against Tulsa last Friday. They lead the team with an 8-1 record this spring.
Admission is free to Friday’s match. In addition, fans are encouraged to arrive early on Friday as free pizza will be served while supplies last.
Live stats will be provided and can be followed at www.LSUsports.net/livestats.
The Lady Tigers hit the road following play on Friday, traveling to Knoxville to face No. 21 Tennessee on Sunday at 11 a.m. CDT.
Follow the LSU women’s tennis team on Twitter @LSUwten and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUwten.