BATON ROUGE, La. — At No. 18 in the ITA/Oracle team rankings, the undefeated LSU women’s tennis team (4-0) heads to Houston to face No. 31 Rice at noon Sunday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
The match against the Owls provides a unique atmosphere as the men’s team led by Jeff Brown will also take on Rice at the same time. Live scores of both matches will be available at LSUsports.net/livestats.
The Lady Tigers carry momentum into the weekend with the highest ranking since 2009. The women’s team, led by co-head coaches Julia Sell and Michael Sell, are coming off of an incredible ITA Kick-Off Weekend where LSU punched its ticket to the ITA Indoor Team Championships Feb. 5-8, in Madison, Wisconsin.
“We are looking forward to another battle against Rice this weekend alongside our men’s program that will be competing at the same time,” Julia Sell said.
No. 23 Joana Vale Costa leads the way for LSU in singles play. Vale Costa is 2-0 in dual matches this season. She is coming off of a crucial 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 24 Georgia Tech’s Johnnise Renaud on Sunday.
Freshman Jessica Golovin is ranked 52nd in singles play and is on a six-match win streak dating back to the fall. Golovin’s biggest moment over her time in Baton Rouge came last week with a thrilling 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Paige Hourigan on court two to clinch LSU’s match over the Yellow Jackets.
LSU has proven to be strong in doubles this season with a 9-1 record. The first-year pairing of Vale Costa and Ryann Foster lead the way on court one. The duo is 3-0 this season. Abby Owens and Skylar Kuykendall form to pair a strong duo in the middle of the lineup as the pair is 3-1 this season.
LSU looks to end a five-match losing streak to Rice. Last season, the Owls traveled to Baton Rouge and earned a 6-1 win. Rice goes into Sunday with a 12-match win streak at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. The Owls are 2-0 this season and led by No. 40 Katherine Ipp in singles.
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