BATON ROUGE – After a 5-2 victory over No. 26 Arkansas Friday afternoon, the 15th-ranked LSU women’s tennis team (15-6, 4-3) returns to action against No. 59 Missouri (13-5, 1-4 SEC) at 11 a.m. Sunday at the LSU Tennis Complex.
“We are rested and prepared to get back out there tomorrow,” co-head coach Julia Sell said. “We need to come out and do the same things we’ve been doing. We need to focus on ourselves and not so worried about our opponents. When we do that then we play good tennis.”
On Friday, the Lady Tigers started out by taking the doubles point to gain the momentum. It was the second time this season that the team has taken the doubles point against an SEC opponent. It was also the first time since matches against Kentucky and Missouri last season that the team has won consecutive doubles points against league opponents.
Senior Skylar Kuykendall clinched the match for LSU in three sets over Mackenzie Craft 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 on court four. Kuykendall improved to 11-8 in the spring and 3-3 in conference with the win. It was the Jasper, Alabama native’s third conference clinch of the season.
Joana Vale Costa is ranked 19th in the country and owns the top spot in singles play for LSU. Vale Costa is 12-7 for the Lady Tigers on court one.
Ryann Foster and Abby Owens provided points two and three in Friday’s win for LSU. Owens improved to 15-4 and 6-1 in conference, while Foster moved to 16-2 and 4-2 in league play.
Missouri is coming off a 7-0 loss at the hands of No. 17 Texas A&M. The Tigers are led by No. 72 Bea Machado Santos on court one. Machado Santos is 11-5 and 2-3 in conference this season. The team of Machado Santos and Brianna Lashway is also ranked 73rd in the country in doubles.
LSU leads the all-time series over Missouri, 4-0, with all five matches coming since the Tigers’ entry into the SEC. Last season, LSU defeated Missouri 6-1 in the regular season and 4-1 in the SEC Tournament.
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