BATON ROUGE, La. — After dropping the doubles point and losing the first set on four courts, the 13th-ranked LSU women’s tennis team (7-2) roared back to defeat No. 67 North Carolina State, 5-2, Friday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex.
“We created a few holes for ourselves today that we really had to dig out of,” co-head coach Julia Sell said. “We weren’t playing our style or being disciplined. We had to really get back into the match and get focused.”
With the match tied at two, Joana Vale Costa, Jessica Golovin and Abby Owens were each looking to push their match to a third set. Golovin changed the momentum for LSU on court three with her 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory to give LSU a 3-2 lead, its first of the day.
Vale Costa dropped her first set but fought back to defeat Martina Frantova and clinch the match for the Lady Tigers 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The junior improved to 5-2 on the year in singles on court one.
Owens sealed the 5-2 victory with her performance on court five. Owens fell behind 3-6 in the first set. In a thrilling tiebreaker in the second set, Owens won 7-6 and cruised in the third set to a 6-0 win.
The Lady Tigers began the day by dropping the doubles point. Vale Costa and Ryann Foster defeated Nalborska and Moldovan, 6-2, to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Ella Taylor started out strong in singles play with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Claudia Wiktorin on court six to even the match at 1-1. On court two, Skylar Kuykendall dropped her match against Joanna Nalborska 6-2, 6-4.
After being down 1-2, the comeback began on court four with Foster. The junior defeated Tayla Stenta 6-3, 6-4 to even the match and remain undefeated for the season.
LSU returns to action Sunday for a doubleheader against No. 75 Maryland and South Alabama. The match against The Terrapins begins at 11 a.m. and the match USA begins at 4 p.m.
Follow the Lady Tigers on Twitter @lsuwten and @LSUJuliaSell, on Instagram @LSUWTen and on www.Facebook.com/lsuwten.
Tennis Match Results
#13 LSU 5, #67 NC State 2
Feb 12, 2016 at Baton Rouge, La.
(LSU Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. #25 Joana Vale Costa (LSU) def. Martina Frantova (ST) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
2. Joanna Nalborska (ST) def. Skylar Kuykendall (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
3. #40 Jessica Golovin (LSU) def. Bianca Moldovan (ST) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. Ryann Foster (LSU) def. Tayla Stenta (ST) 6-3, 6-4
5. Abby Owens (LSU) def. Amanda Rebol (ST) 3-6, 7-6, 6-0
6. Ella Taylor (LSU) def. Claudia Wiktorin (ST) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #42 Joana Vale Costa/Ryann Foster (LSU) def. Joanna Nalborska/Bianca Moldovan (ST) 6-2
2. Martina Frantova/Tayla Stenta (ST) def. Abby Owens/Skylar Kuykendall (LSU) 7-6
3. Amanda Rebol/Claudia Wiktorin (ST) def. #60 Ella Taylor/Skylar Holloway (LSU) 6-4
Match Notes:
NC State 3-1; National ranking #67
LSU 7-2; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,2,4,3,1,5)
A-120