BATON ROUGE, La— The 12th-ranked LSU women’s tennis team (10-3) returns to action for its final non-conference match ahead of Southeastern Conference play at 3 p.m. Friday against No. 37 Arizona (8-2) at the LSU Tennis Complex.
The match will provide a fun environment as the men will compete against No. 75 North Florida at 5 p.m. on the south courts. The first 50 fans in attendance will receive an LSU Tennis koozie. Those in attendance will also receive a $4 coupon to the LSU Baseball game that night.
“It’s a really exciting day with the ribbon cutting and all the things surrounding the match,” co-head coach Julia Sell said. “We played one other match this season with the men playing at the same time at Rice and it was a battle. It is very hectic, and we have to make sure we stay focused. It’s also really energizing and we can use that in the right way.”
The Lady Tigers are coming off of a 6-1 win over Tulane and 7-0 victory over UNO Wednesday at the indoor courts of the LSU Tennis Complex. LSU earned both doubles points and won the first set on 11 of 12 singles courts. Only two matches in the doubleheader went to a third set.
No. 20 Joana Vale Costa leads the way for LSU on court one. The junior holds a 9-2 record on court one this season. Vale Costa is on a five-match win streak and is 8-2 in her last 10 matches.
An important part of LSU’s success this season is the 28-6 record on courts four, five and six. Ryann Foster has been a large part of LSU’s success with a perfect 11-0 record in singles play. All 11 of her wins have come in two sets.
Abby Owens and Ella Taylor round out the bottom half of the lineup. The junior and senior own a combined 17-6 record. Taylor defeated Carla Tur Mari 7-5, 7-5 to clinch LSU’s win over No. 10 Oklahoma State in the ITA Team Championships earlier this month.
The matchup against the Wildcats is the first ever between the two schools. Arizona is led by No. 54 Lauren Marker on court one. Marker holds a 9-1 record in singles play and is on a five-match win streak. Arizona has two ranked victories this season, a 7-0 win over No. 44 Houston and most recently a 5-2 victory over No. 38 Long Beach State Sunday.
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