FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The No. 25 LSU women’s tennis team (15-7, 5-4 SEC) takes on the 46th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (13-7, 2-7 SEC) for the second straight conference weekend on the road at 1 p.m. Friday at the Billingsley Tennis Center.
“The girls are excited are about the ranking and have gained a lot of confidence with where they are,” head coach Julia S. Sell said. “This is another very tough road weekend but I liked how the girls responded to difficult circumstances last week. We just have to go in and be smart about the way we approach the weekend.”
The Lady Tigers are coming off an SEC weekend sweep for the first time since 2011 and are on a four-match win streak. It’s the first time the program has cracked the top-25 since the end of the 2009 season. With the win over No. 21 Ole Miss last weekend, LSU has now defeated two teams in the top-30 for the first time since 2009.
No. 39 Joana Vale Costa and No. 69 Skylar Kuykendall highlight the top of the LSU lineup. Kuykendall is on an eight-match win streak with five of the matches coming against ranked foes. Vale Costa has competed on court one all season and is 11-6 and 5-3 in conference play.
Skylar Holloway and Ella Taylor have sparked the team and have clinched the last three SEC matches. Holloway helped wrap up the win over No. 37 Auburn last Sunday. Taylor improved to 16-6 and 5-4 in conference play over the weekend. The Hampshire, England native clinched both matches in the SEC sweep.
LSU leads the all-time series over Arkansas, 19-17. The Razorbacks are led by Yulya Lysa on court one. Lysa is 14-8 on the year overall and is 7-7 on court one. Shannon Hudson has also bounced around court two and three for Arkansas. Hudson is 9-7 overall and 3-4 in SEC play.
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