BATON ROUGE — Senior Ryann Foster clinched a 4-3 come-from-behind victory for the LSU women’s tennis team over No. 39 Rice Sunday at the LSU Tennis Complex.
The Tigers improved to 9-1 on the season with the win while Rice fell to 6-3. The Tigers moved to 8-0 at home this season with a win in their final non-conference match.
LSU dropped court three to start doubles play but picked up a court two win as Jessica Golovin and Eden Richardson defeated Bowtell/Niezgoda, 6-4. Court one was tied at 5-5 to decide the doubles point but Rice went on to win, 7-5, to take the early 1-0 over the Tigers.
Rice took the 3-0 lead after back-to-back singles wins on courts six and five, respectively, before LSU began its rally. Richardson put the first point on the board for the Tigers with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Michaela Haet on court three, her team-leading 19th singles victory.
Richardson was followed closely behind by Golovin, who picked up her 12th consecutive win with a 6-3, 6-2 takedown of Wendy Zhang on court two, cutting Rice’s lead to 3-2.
Kennan Johnson, unbeaten in 17 of her last 18 matches, tied the score at 3-3 with a 6-4, 7-6(4) win on court four as all eyes were on Foster on court one to decide the match.
After dropping the first set to Rice’s No. 1 Lindsey Hodge, 7-5, Foster fought back to take the second set, 6-4, and had just begun the third set when Johnson tied the score.
Foster absolutely dominated Hodge in the third set, 6-1, to complete the comeback victory for the Tigers.
LSU will begin SEC play with a home match against No. 6 Georgia Friday at 4 p.m. CT at the LSU Tennis Complex, followed by a match Sunday at noon against No. 18 Tennessee.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program follow the Tigers on Twitter @lsuwten and @LSUJuliaSell, on Instagram @LSUWTen and on www.Facebook.com/lsuwten.
LSU 4, #39 Rice 3
Singles
1. #102 Ryann Foster (LSU) def. Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
2. #80 Jessica Golovin (LSU) def. Wendy Zhang (RICE) 6-3, 6-2
3. #105 Eden Richardson (LSU) vs. Michaela Haet (RICE) 6-3, 7-5
4. Kennan Johnson (LSU) def. Fernanda Astete (RICE) 6-4, 7-6(4)
5. Savannah Durkin (RICE) def. Luba Vasilyuk (LSU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Anna Bowtell (RICE) def. Ashton Rabalais (LSU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. #16 Lindsey Hodge/Wendy Zhang (RICE) def. Ryann Foster/Kennan Johnson (LSU) 7-5
2. Eden Richardson/Jessica Golovin (LSU) def. Anna Bowtell/Priya Niezgoda (RICE) 6-4
3. Savannah Durkin/Michaela Haet (RICE) def. Luba Vasilyuk/Ashton Rabalais (LSU) 6-0
Match Notes:
Rice 6-3
LSU 9-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,5,3,2,4,1)
A-190