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Women’s Tennis Defeats Penn State, 5-2

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Women’s Tennis Defeats Penn State, 5-2

BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU women’s tennis team (4-0) finished the month of January unbeaten as they took down the Penn State Nittany Lions (2-3) by a score of 5-2 inside the LSU Tennis Complex on Sunday afternoon.

Taylor’s Thoughts
“Tremendously proud of our team for their work today,” head coach Taylor Fogleman said. “Taking on Penn State indoors, where they’re used to playing, was certainly going to be a challenge. The girls rose to the occasion and played some great tennis, which was needed against a great team like Penn State that will fight all the way.”

“We’re thankful to all our fans that attended today despite the weather! Now we’ll continue to grow and get ready for a month of away matches and challenges that our group is excited to face.”

Doubles Results
The No. 7-ranked duo of Anastasiya Komar and Nikita Vishwase gave the Tigers a strong start in doubles as they took down Sofiya Chekhlystova and Karly Friedland by a score of 6-2 at the No. 1 doubles court. The win is the duo’s 15th overall this season and its third in dual play.

The doubles point was clinched at the No. 3 spot, where the seniors Safiya Carrington and Maggie Cubitt showed their experience by holding off a late charge to take down Alexandra Nielsen and Yvonne Zuffova by a score of 6-4. The win is the third of the dual season for the senior pairing and is their third consecutive match they’ve contributed to the doubles point.

Singles Results
No. 32 Komar earned the first singles point of the afternoon as she took down Zuffova in straight sets at the No. 2 singles court. Komar dominated the first set, only dropping two games to win 6-2 before pulling away in the second as she won 6-3. The win is her 17th of the overall season, a team-high for the Tigers.

LSU’s lead extended to 3-0 on the day after Carrington took down Carla Girbau in straight sets at the No. 3. Carrington played great tennis in the first set and won 6-3 before only dropping two games in the second as she won 6-2 to clinch her court. Carrington’s win is her 10th overall in singles play this season, becoming only the second Tiger to break the double digit mark (Komar – 17). The South Hadley, Massachusetts native is also the only player to score a singles point in all four matches for the Tigers this season.

In a ranked battle at the No. 1 spot, No. 7 Kylie Collins clinched the match for the Tigers by taking down No. 53 Sofiya Chekhlystova in straight sets. The first set was a back and forth contest between the two that sat split at 5-5 after ten games. Collins stringed together two straight games to win the first set, 7-5, and brought that momentum into the second as she took down Chekhlystova, 6-2, to make it 4-0 on the day. The win was Collins’ first at the LSU Tennis Complex and her third ranked win of the season.

The Nittany Lions scored their first point of the match at the No. 5 spot, where Olivia Dorner defeated Cubitt in three sets. Cubitt opened the match by winning the first set 6-1 before Dorner struck back in the second with a 6-3 win to force a third set. In the third set, Dorner took down Cubitt by a 6-2 margin to give Penn State a point on the board.

The lead was cut to 4-2 in the match as Ioana Gheorghita defeated Nina Geissler in a close contest at the No. 4 court. Gheorghita claimed the first set by a score of 6-3, before battling with Geissler in a close second set that narrowly went the way of the Nittany Lion by a margin of 7-5.

LSU’s fifth and final point of the match came from the No. 6 spot, where Vishwase came from behind to defeat Nielsen in three sets. Nielsen claimed the first set, 6-3, before Vishwase responded with a 6-2 win in the second to force the match into a third. The third set had the two players swap points and sat tied at 6-6 after 12 games, requiring a tiebreaker to decide. In the tiebreaker, neither player could pull away until Vishwase won the final two points to win 7-5 and secure her eighth singles win of the year.

Up Next
The Tigers hit the road for their first away dual match when they travel to Orlando, Florida to face the No. 23-ranked UCF Knights at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday, February 5.

Follow Us
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program follow the Tigers on Twitter @lsuwten , on Instagram @LSUWTen , and on www.Facebook.com/lsuwten.

LSU 5, Penn State 2

Singles competition

  1. #7 Kylie Collins (LSU) def. #53 Sofiya Chekhlystova (PSU) 7-5, 6-2
  2. #32 Anastasiya Komar (LSU) def. Yvonne Zuffova (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
  3. Safiya Carrington (LSU) def. Carla Girbau (PSU) 6-3, 6-2
  4. Ioana Gheorghita (PSU) def. Nina Geissler (LSU) 6-3, 7-5
  5. Olivia Dorner (PSU) def. Maggie Cubitt (LSU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
  6. Nikita Vishwase (LSU) def. Alexandra Nielsen (PSU) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)

Doubles competition

  1. Anastasiya Komar/Nikita Vishwase (LSU) def. Sofiya Chekhlystova/Karly Friedland (PSU) 6-2
  2. Kylie Collins/Nina Geissler (LSU) vs. Ioana Gheorghita/Carla Girbau (PSU) 4-3, unfinished
  3. Safiya Carrington/Maggie Cubitt (LSU) def. Alexandra Nielsen/Yvonne Zuffova (PSU) 6-4

 

Match Notes:
Penn State 2-3
LSU 4-0
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,3,1,5,4,6)
Official: Richie Weaver T-3:00 A-44