BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s tennis team put together a third consecutive successful day at the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Invitational on Sunday. The Lady Tigers were able to claim one of three doubles matches against Georgia Tech, but finished with an impressive 8-0 sweep against NC State.
In doubles, the team of sophomores Joana Vale Costa and Skylar Holloway took Georgia Tech’s Rasheeda McAdoo and Paige Hourigan down to the wire but were defeated 7-5. Senior Noel Scott and freshman Madara Starume were defeated by the duo of Johnise Renaud and Natasha Prokhnevska in a 6-2 match. The Lady Tigers finished on a positive note in doubles as junior Skylar Kuykendall and sophomore Abby Owens picked up a 6-1 victory over Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer and Alexis Pokopuik.
The Lady Tigers took on N.C. State in singles where they claimed all eight matches in dominating fashion. Scott started the singles success with a two-set victory over Joanna Nalborska 7-5, 6-4, improving her singles record for the tournament to 3-0. Vale Costa, ranked 61st nationally, continued her successful trend against Liza Fieldsend by posting a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Kuykendall contributed yet another victory for the Lady Tigers and maintained a perfect 3-0 singles record by knocking off Sophie Nelson in two sets 6-4, 6-2. Sophomore Abby Owens continued the winning effort by posting a convincing 6-0, 6-0 victory over Elisha Hande.
Holloway provided another quality effort by adding a straight-set and improved her overall singles record to 3-0 for the tournament by defeating Natalia Janowicz 6-3, 6-4. Junior Ella Taylor bested Taylor Stenta in a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
The pair of Lady Tiger freshman continued to impress in their debut tournament as Amanda Atanasson continued outlasted Ashleigh Capannolo 6-4, 6-2 and Madara Straume defeated Taylor Zaytoun 6-0, 6-1.
“Overall it was a great weekend for our entire team. Our returnees really took some great strides forward and our freshman got their first tournament in after a long hiatus from competition. We saw them work through some nerves and embrace the electric atmosphere of a college tennis match,” said LSU head coach Julia Sell.
The Lady Tigers hope the momentum from this successful opening weekend carries forward to the upcoming ITA tournaments.
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