BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU women’s tennis team (11-7, 3-5 SEC) was narrowly defeated by the Vanderbilt Commodores (9-5, 4-3 SEC) by a score of 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex.
Taylor’s Thoughts
“Credit to Vanderbilt for the win today,” head coach Taylor Fogleman said. “They’re a well coached team and they did what they had to do to win. We didn’t have the energy we needed to have in doubles and that cost us there. We showed good fight in singles, but the score ultimately ended up out of our reach. I know the ladies are upset with the loss today, so we’ll look to get back out on the courts and get ready for our home match against Texas A&M on Friday.”
Doubles Results
Bridget Stammel and Valeria Ray gave the visiting team the start they were looking for in doubles as they took down Florentine Dekkers and Aran Teixidó Garcia by a score of 6-2 at the No. 2 spot.
Vanderbilt clinched the doubles point at the No. 3 court as Holly Staff and Amy Stevens took down Gaby Rivera and Maya Tahan in a 6-3 contest.
Singles Results
The Commodores took a 2-0 lead in the match when Sonya Macavei defeated Kenna Erickson at the No. 6 court. Macavei claimed the first set by a score of 6-3 and repeated the scoreline in the second to secure a straight set win.
The lead was extended to 3-0 as No. 11 Celia-Belle Mohr defeated Teixidó Garcia at the No. 1 court. Mohr took the first set by a score of 6-2 and came from behind in the second set to narrowly win 6-4 and secure the straight set win.
Vanderbilt clinched the match at the No. 4 spot when Anessa Lee defeated Gaby Rivera. Lee and Rivera battled it out in a close first set, with Lee securing the final three games to win 7-5. The second set saw Lee drop only one game as she won 6-1 to grab the win and clinch the team victory for the Commodores.
The remaining matches played out, with LSU securing its first points of the match at the No. 2 court as Dekkers defeated No. 66 Stammel. The first set was a back-and-forth affair with the two players splitting 12 games at 6-6. The tiebreaker saw Dekkers overcome a slow start to come from behind two points and then win, 7-4. The second set saw Stammel respond with a 6-2 win, extending the match to a ten-point tiebreaker in the third set. The tiebreaker saw Dekkers hold a narrow lead and pull away at the end with a strong finish as she won 10-6 to claim her court. The win was her sixth of the dual season and her first against a ranked foe as a Tiger.
The scoreline became 4-2 as Tahan earned a grinding straight set win over doubles-foe Staff at the No. 5 spot. In an even first set, Tahan narrowly held the lead and fended off a rally from Staff to claim a 6-4 win. The second set was even closer than the first, with the players splitting 12 games at 6-6 and requiring a tiebreaker to decide it. In the tiebreaker, the two players split the first four points at 2-2 before Tahan won five of the final six points on her way to a 7-3 win. For Tahan, the win was her ninth of the dual season at the No. 5 spot and her third in conference play.
The final point of the match was won by Sahdiieva, who defeated Ray in three sets at the No. 3 court. In a first set that required a tiebreaker, Sahdiieva narrowly defeated Ray, 8-6, to take the lead. The second set saw the Commodore respond with a 6-2 win, extending the match to a third set ten-point tiebreaker to decide it. The tiebreaker had Sahdiieva take an early lead and narrowly fend off Ray’s comeback effort at the end as she won 10-8 to finalize the team score on the day at 4-3 in favor of the visitors. For Sahdiieva, she improves her dual season record to a perfect 11-0 playing primarily at the No. 3 spot for LSU.
Up Next
The Tigers return to action at the LSU Tennis Complex to host No. 11 Texas A&M at 5 p.m. CT on Friday, March 29.
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LSU vs. Vanderbilt
Mar 24, 2024
LSU Tennis Complex
#29 Vanderbilt 4, #40 LSU 3
Singles
- #11 Celia-Belle Mohr (VANDY-W) def. Aran Teixido Garcia (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
- Florentine Dekkers (LSU) def. #66 Bridget Stammel (VANDY-W) 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 10-6
- Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) def. Valeria Ray (VANDY-W) 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 10-8
- Anessa Lee (VANDY-W) def. Gaby Rivera (LSU) 7-5, 6-1
- Maya Tahan (LSU) def. Holly Staff (VANDY-W) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
- Sonya Macavei (VANDY-W) def. Kenna Erickson (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
- Kenna Erickson/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) vs. #33 Celia-Belle Mohr/Anessa Lee (VANDY-W) 4-5, unfinished
- Bridget Stammel/Valeria Ray (VANDY-W) def. Florentine Dekkers/Aran Teixido Garcia (LSU) 6-2
- Holly Staff/Amy Stevens (VANDY-W) def. Gaby Rivera/Maya Tahan (LSU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Vanderbilt 9-5, 4-3 SEC; National ranking #29
LSU 11-7, 3-5 SEC; National ranking #40
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (6,1,4,2,5,3)
Official: Richie Weaver T-3:08