BATON ROUGE – After sweeping doubles in both of its matches, the No. 23 LSU women’s tennis team defeated Tulsa, 5-2, and Grambling, 7-0, Wednesday at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
“I was really pleased with the effort today. I knew Tulsa was going to be a really tough team. They gave us everything we could handle. We were really fortunate to win,” said head coach Tony Minnis. “And to follow up with Grambling we were able to let some girls play who don’t normally get to play. I was really pleased with the overall effort.”
Against Tulsa, Hannah Robinson and Whitney Wolf finished first on court two as they beat Anastasia Erofeeva and Jie Zeng 8-5.
No. 14 Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg clinched the doubles point when they took down Thalia Diaz-Barriga and Marta Marcinkowska 8-5 on court one. The tandem increased their win streak to 12 as they are 24-3 for the season.
Nicole Kantor and Staten Spencer secured the sweep when the duo beat Alexandra Kichoutkin and Rebecca Row in a back and forth affair 8-7 (4).
In singles, Kantor finished first on court three as she knocked out Marcinkowska 6-3, 6-1. Fifteenth-ranked Falcon cruised past Kichoutkin 7-6 (3), 6-1 on court one.
On court six, Spencer jumped ahead early as she claimed the first set 6-2 against Tulsa’s Ewa Szatkowska. Szatkowska bounced back to take Spencer 6-0 in the second set. As Szatkowska was ahead 3-0 in the third set, Minnis made the decision to retire the match because Spencer was suffering from a minor injury.
LSU’s (10-4, 1-2 SEC) Robinson clinched the overall match for the Lady Tigers on court five as she took down Erofeeva 6-4, 6-4.
Hedberg, an Oxnard, Calif. native, gave the Lady Tigers their fifth and final point of the match when she raced past Zeng in an epic three-set duel 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-2 on court two.
Tulsa’s (16-4, 1-0 C-USA) Diaz-Barriga claimed the first set against Wolf 7-6 (6). Wolf wasted no time in bouncing back as she took the second set 6-2 but came up short in the third set when she fell to Diaz-Barriga 6-2.
In doubles against Grambling State (1-4, 1-0 SWAC), Minnis decided to default court three as the Lady Tigers were worn out after a very tough battle against Tulsa.
LSU claimed the doubles point as Kantor and freshman Nicole Smith finished second on court one with a score of 8-0 and sophomore Kylie Adamek and junior Sloane Mathis finished third with a score of 8-2 on court two.
The Lady Tigers swept the overall match as LSU defeated Grambling State in straight sets in singles play. Mathis picked up her first dual match victory of the season.
Falcon advanced her record to 25-5 on the season and 90-15 for her career. She is now tied for 14th place on the all-time wins list in LSU history as Jennifer Barr captured 90 victories from 1994-98. Falcon was not eligible until her sophomore season, meaning she has tallied 90 wins in only two and half seasons so far.
With the two victories in today’s double-header, Minnis is just one match short of his 250th-career win as this accomplishment makes him the winningest coach in LSU’s program history.
The Lady Tigers will be back in action Wednesday to host another double-header against Oregon and Centenary at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium. First serve is set for 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. CDT.
#23 LSU 5, #61 Tulsa 2
March 18, 2009 at Baton Rouge, La. (W.T. "Dub" Robinson Tennis Stadium)
Singles
1. #15 Megan Falcon (LSU) def. Alexandra Kichoutkin (TULSA) 7-6 (3), 6-1
2. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Jie Zeng (TULSA) 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-2
3. Thalia Diaz-Barriga (TULSA) def. Whitney Wolf (LSU) 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3
4. Nicole Kantor (LSU) def. Marta Marcinkowska (TULSA) 6-3, 6-1
5. Hannah Robinson (LSU) def. Anastasia Erofeeva (TULSA) 6-4, 6-4
6. Ewa Szatkowska (TULSA) def. Staten Spencer (LSU) 2-6, 6-0, 3-0, retired
Doubles
1. #14 Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. Thalia Diaz-Barriga/Marta Marcinkowska (TULSA) 8-5
2. Hannah Robinson/Whitney Wolf (LSU) def. Anastasia Erofeeva/Jie Zeng (TULSA) 8-5
3. Nicole Kantor/Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Alexandra Kichoutkin/Rebecca Row (TULSA) 8-7 (4)
Match Notes:
Tulsa 16-4; National ranking #61
LSU 10-4; National ranking #23
Order of Finish:
Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,6,5,2,3)
#23 LSU 0, Grambling State 0
March 18, 2009 at Baton Rouge, La. (W.T. "Dub" Robinson Tennis Stadium)
Singles
1. #15 Megan Falcon (LSU) vs. Maia Semerdjieva (GSU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) vs. Malaina Davis (GSU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Nicole Kantor (LSU) vs. Sino Ndlabhu (GSU) 6-0, 6-0
4. Nicole Smith (LSU) vs. Nolu Ndlabhu (GSU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Kylie Adamek (LSU) vs. Jorden Shaw (GSU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Sloane Mathis (LSU) vs. Marqueita Maynard (GSU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Nicole Kantor/Nicole Smith (LSU) vs. Nolu Ndlabhu/Sino Ndlabhu
2. Kylie Adamek/Sloane Mathis (LSU) vs. Marqueita Maynard/Jorden Shaw
Match Notes:
Grambling State 1-4
LSU 10-4; National ranking #23
Order of Finish:
Doubles (1,2); Singles (1,4,3,5,2,6)
