BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s tennis team fell to No. 7 Georgia 7-0 on Friday afternoon at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
The loss snapped the Lady Tigers’ three-match SEC win streak and dropped their record to 9-8 overall, 3-2 in the SEC. Georgia improved to 11-1, 5-0 in conference.
“We fought very hard,” said LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis. “I am proud of our effort. We had our opportunities but we were unable to build any momentum. We need to get tougher and be able to take advantage of our opportunities when we get them.”
The Bulldogs got off to a quick start in doubles play on Court 3. The Georgia duo of Cameron Ellis and Alexandra Anghelescu broke a 1-1 tie with LSU’s Ebie Wilson and Kaitlin Burns and cruised to an 8-1 victory.
LSU’s Olivia Howlett made her debut as a Lady Tiger on Court 1, pairing with Whitney Wolf to face No. 9 Chelsey Gullickson and Kate Fuller of Georgia. The teams engaged in a see-saw battle early on. With the match tied 6-6, the Bulldogs’ ace doubles team took the final two games to come away with an 8-6 win to clinch the doubles point for Georgia.
Lilly Kimbell and Nadja Gilchrist of Georgia built a 5-2 lead on the Lady Tiger tandem of Keri Frankenberger and Yvette Vlaar on Court 2 and it seemed the Bulldogs were on their way to an easy victory. However, Frankenberger and Vlaar managed to cut the margin to 6-5, but Georgia’s 38th-ranked twosome retook control and went on to win 8-6.
In singles play, the momentum began to swing back to LSU’s side as the Lady Tigers took leads in the first sets of four matches. After taking the first set against Georgia’s Kimbell 6-4, Wilson was forced to retire in the second set due to injury. The Bulldogs were able to take a 2-0 lead and steal the momentum right back.
Howlett saw her first action in singles action for the Lady Tigers on Court 2. The Bridgewater, England, native claimed the first set 6-3 over Kowase. The next two sets were a completely different story, though, as Kowase awoke and Howlett began to tire. The Georgia freshman ended up cruising to a 3-6, 6-0, 6-0 victory.
Burns fell into an early 3-0 hole in her first set against Anghelescu and never recovered, falling 6-2. With the second set tied 5-5, Anghelescu proved too tough for the LSU sophomore as she took the final two games to win the set and match 6-2, 7-5 and clinch the overall match for Georgia.
LSU’s Frankenberger and Fuller of Georgia took part in a tight first set that saw neither player take a two-game lead. The Bulldog freshman was able to come away with the tiebreaker 7-0 to take the set. The second set appeared to be headed to another climactic finish, but Fuller won the final three games after the set was tied 3-3 to come away with a 7-6 (7-0), 6-3 win.
On Court 1, Wolf built a 4-2 lead on Gullickson and appeared to be on her way to winning the set. Gullickson would not give in, however, as she fought back to win five of the next six games and take the set 7-5. The second set was tied 2-2 before the defending NCAA singles national champion took control and won the set and match 7-5, 6-3.
LSU’s Vlaar dropped her first set to Ellis 6-0 before tying the match in a thrilling second-set tiebreaker. With the overall match already decided, the two played a first-to-10 tiebreaker. The Bulldog senior prevailed 10-5 to win the match 6-0, 6-7 (7-9), 1-0 (10-5) and make the final overall match score 7-0.
The Lady Tigers will look to get back on track when they travel 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.
No. 7 Georgia 7, LSU 0
March 25, 2011 at Baton Rouge, La.
W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium
Singles
1. #37 Chelsey Gullickson (UGA) def. #56 Whitney Wolf (LSU) 7-5, 6-3
2. #84 Maho Kowase (UGA) def. Olivia Howlett (LSU) 3-6, 6-0, 6-0
3. Alexandra Anghelescu (UGA) def. Kaitlin Burns (LSU) 6-2, 7-5
4. #120 Lilly Kimbell (UGA) def. Ebie Wilson (LSU) 4-6, 3-0, retired
5. Kate Fuller (UGA) def. Keri Frankenberger (LSU) 7-6 (7-0), 6-3
6. #76 Cameron Ellis (UGA) def. Yvette Vlaar (LSU) 6-0, 6-7 (7-9), 1-0 (10-5)
Doubles
1. #9 Chelsey Gullickson/Kate Fuller (UGA) def. Whitney Wolf/Olivia Howlett (LSU) 8-6
2. #38 Lilly Kimbell/Nadja Gilchrist (UGA) def. Keri Frankenberger/Yvette Vlaar (LSU) 8-6
3. Cameron Ellis/Alexandra Anghelescu (UGA) def. Ebie Wilson/Kaitlin Burns (LSU) 8-1
Order of Finish
Singles: 4,2,3,5,1,6
Doubles: 3,1,2
Team Records
Georgia: 11-1 (5-0 in SEC)
LSU: 9-8 (3-2 in SEC)