BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s tennis team returns to the road when it travels to Knoxville to take on No. 21 Tennessee on Sunday at 11 a.m. CDT.
The Lady Tigers (9-8, 3-2 SEC) look to rebound from their loss to No. 7 Georgia on Friday. Tennessee (12-4, 4-0 SEC) enters the match fresh off defeating No. 12 Arkansas in Fayetteville on Friday.
“Tennessee is another tough opponent,” said LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis. “This is a shot for us to get back in the win column after the loss to Georgia on Friday. We need to be sure to come out ready to play.”
Natalie Pluskota guides the Lady Vols in singles competition. Checking in at No. 42 in the latest ITA singles rankings, the junior has posted a 10-5 record this spring with all five of her losses coming to nationally-ranked opponents. She is coming off a defeat of Arkansas’ 22nd-ranked Anouk Tigu.
36th-ranked Brynn Boren leads the Lady Vols with an overall 23-8 record. The freshman has put together an 8-2 record this spring while playing out of the No. 2 and 3 slots for Tennessee including notching four wins against ranked competitors.
In doubles action, senior Jennifer Meredith and sophomore Kata Szekely team together on Court 3 for the Lady Vols. Since being paired together on Jan. 31, the twosome has gone a perfect 14-0 and only once have they been forced to win a ninth game.
LSU junior Olivia Howlett will look to collect her first win as a Lady Tiger on Sunday in Knoxville. The Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College transfer made her debut for LSU on Friday against Georgia, falling in singles play to 84th-ranked Maho Kowase 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.
Freshman Yvette Vlaar lost for only the second time in her last 10 matches on Friday. Both of her defeats in the span have come in three sets while all of her wins have been straight-set victories.
Vlaar and sophomore Keri Frankenberger will attempt to respond from their 8-6 loss to Georgia’s 38th-ranked doubles team of Lilly Kimbell and Nadja Gilchrist. The Lady Tiger duo leads the team with an 8-2 doubles record this spring while primarily playing out of the No. 2 slot.
Live stats will be provided for Sunday’s matchup and can be followed at www.LSUsports.net/livestats.
LSU will continue road play in the SEC following Sunday’s match when it travels to face Auburn on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CDT.
Follow the LSU women’s tennis team on Twitter @LSUwten and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUwten.