MADISON, Wisc. — No. 18 LSU (5-0) takes on No. 10 Oklahoma State (6-0) in the opening match of the ITA Team Indoor Championships at 9 a.m. Friday at the University of Wisconsin’s Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The match at the ITA Indoor Championships is the first in school history for LSU. The Lady Tigers defeated No. 35 DePaul and No. 24 Georgia Tech at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in January to advance to the team championships.
“Heading to indoors and the final 16, we have to be ready to compete at the highest level,” co-head coach Julia Sell said.
LSU is 5-0 this season with the best mark for the program since the 2004 team started 6-0. The Lady Tigers have taken the doubles point in each of their last seven matches dating back to the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, which is the best streak for the program since at least 2003. LSU is 6-1 when starting out with the doubles point.
Joana Vale Costa leads the way for LSU on court one in singles. The junior is 3-0 this season and is 8-1 in her last nine matches. Vale Costa and partner Ryann Foster are a perfect 4-0 this season on court one. Vale Costa clinched the match for LSU over Rice in singles and doubles Sunday.
Freshman Jessica Golovin has claimed the No. 2 spot in singles play. Golovin clinched LSU’s match over the Yellow Jackets to earn a spot in the team indoor championships. So far this season, the New York, N.Y. native is 3-1 in singles.
The Cowgirls defeated Notre Dame and Northwestern State in clean sweeps at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Oklahoma State has four players in the ITA singles rankings, led by Katarina Adamovic at No. 27. Oklahoma State reached the Sweet 16 at the NCAA Tournament last season and finished No. 12 in the team rankings.
Live results of all matches will be available at uwbadgers.com. LSU will take on either North Carolina or Alabama in the second round of the Championships Saturday.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow us on Twitter @lsuwten and @LSUJuliaSell, on Instagram @LSUWTen and on www.Facebook.com/lsuwten.
ITA Indoors First Round Matches
Friday, Feb. 5, 2016
Madison, Wisc. | Nielsen Tennis Stadium
#6 Oklahoma State vs. LSU, 9 a.m. CT
#3 North Carolina vs. Alabama, 9 a.m. CT
#7 Miami (Fla.) vs. Michigan, 12 p.m. CT
#2 Georgia vs. Texas Tech, 12 p.m. CT
#1 Vanderbilt vs. Duke, 3:30 p.m. CT
#8 Ohio State vs. Fresno State, 3:30 p.m. CT
#4 Cal vs. Wisconsin, 6:30 p.m. CT
#5 Texas A&M vs. Virginia, 6:30 p.m. CT
All times Central and subject to change.
The Top 8 seeds in the ITA Indoors field were determined based off of an unpublished ranking conducted by the National Ranking Committee earlier in the week. The unseeded teams were placed into draw by random selection. Teams were moved to avoid playing opponents in the first round already on their respective regular-season schedules. Sixteen of the top Division I women’s teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament over a four-day span to crown a national indoor champion. Each team is guaranteed three matches at the event.