BATON ROUGE, La. — After a 4-0 start and clinching a spot in the ITA Team Indoor Championships, the LSU women’s tennis team jumped to No. 18 in the latest Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings announced Wednesday.
The team ranking is a three-spot jump for the Lady Tigers. It’s the highest spot in the team poll for the program since the 2009 team was ranked 16th on April 7.
Over the weekend, LSU combined to beat No. 35 DePaul and No. 24 Georgia Tech. The Lady Tigers started strong in both matches by winning the doubles point. Against the Blue Demons, Ryann Foster and Skylar Kuykendall pushed LSU ahead to a 3-0 lead. Senior Ella Taylor then clinched the match on court six for LSU to advance to the championship match.
Against the Yellow Jackets, LSU once again got out to a strong start and led 3-0. Abby Owens and Joana Vale Costa earned wins in straight sets on courts five and one respectively. Georgia Tech didn’t go down without a fight though and won two more courts to make it 3-2. Freshman Jessica Golovin clinched the match on court two after dropping her first set to push the women to the team championships.
The Lady Tigers continue the 2016 season Sunday in Houston, Texas against Rice. The match will offer a unique opportunity as both the men and women will face off against Rice at noon at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
Follow the Lady Tigers on Twitter @lsuwten and @LSUJuliaSell, on Instagram @LSUWTen and on www.Facebook.com/lsuwten.
Oracle/ITA Team Rankings
Jan. 27
Rank School Jan. 20 Rank
1 Vanderbilt 1
2 Georgia 4
3 Florida 3
4 USC 2
5 North Carolina 5
6 California 6
7 Virginia 8
8 Stanford 7
9 Texas A&M 10
10 Oklahoma State 11
11 Miami 12
12 Michigan 13
13 Alabama 15
14 Duke 16
15 Baylor 14
16 Ohio State 18
17 Texas Tech 17
T18 Pepperdine 19
T18 LSU 21
20 Clemson 20
21 UCLA 9
T22 TCU 22
T22 Kentucky 23
24 Georgia Tech 24
25 Mississippi 25