BATON ROUGE — The 49th-ranked LSU women’s tennis team (11-6, 2-3 SEC) takes on No. 9 Alabama (12-3, 4-2 SEC) at 4 p.m. Friday at W.T. ‘Dub’ Robinson Stadium. The match against the Crimson Tide marks the fourth top-10 team the Lady Tigers have faced this season.
“We’re excited going into this weekend another top team,” head coach Julia Sell said. “We’ve been so close this season and the girls are hungry. Alabama is a great team and have proven themselves with their ranking. We are excited to compete our hearts out and see where it falls.”
Court one pits No. 40 Joana Vale Costa against No. 26 Erin Routliffe of Alabama. Routliffe owns an 8-2 and 4-2 record in SEC play. Routliffe is also 1-2 against ranked opponents. Vale Costa is 7-5 this season and 2-2 in SEC play.
No. 115 Skylar Kuykendall continues SEC play on court two after starting out 2-0. Kuykendall takes on No. 54 Danielle Spielmann.
Abby Owens gets her first shot on court three in conference play. Owens is on a three-match win streak and is 11-3 and 3-1 in the SEC. Maya Jansen will take on the junior on court three. Jansen boasts a 9-1 record and is also on a three-match win streak.
Noel Scott, Ella Taylor and Skylar Holloway round out the bottom half of the LSU lineup against Natalia Maynetto, Emily Zabor and Luicelena Perez of Alabama.
The series between LSU and Alabama dates back to 1978 with the Lady Tigers holding a 28-14 record. LSU looks to break Alabama’s four-match winning streak.
For live stats of all home and select road matches, visit www.LSUsports.net/livestats.
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