Thursday, 01/12/2012

EVANSTON Ill. – The LSU Lady Tiger Tennis team kick off their 2012 season outside the Windy City on Friday at the Wildcat Spring Invitational in the Combe Indoor Tennis Center on the campus of Northwestern University.

The first matches of the day will get under way at 10:30 a.m. CT with LSU taking on the University of Illinois at Chicago in singles play. The Lady Tigers will then face DePaul in doubles at 2 p.m., followed by more doubles matches against Northwestern at 3:15 p.m.

“This team has come back from the holiday break working very hard,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “We are excited to play some indoor matches. Tomorrow is going to be a good opportunity for a lot of our players to get back into the season routine.”

The Lady Tigers are coming of a successful fall campaign highlighted by Senior Whitney Wolf and Junior Keri Frankenberger’s doubles title at the Utah Fall Invitational, the team’s last event of 2011. Wolf and Frankenberger have won nine of their last 15 matches together dating back to last season, and they are 2-1 all-time against ranked doubles opponents.

In singles, Wolf reached the Utah singles final as she won eight of her last ten singles matches of the fall including a semifinal appearance at the ITA Southern Regional in Birmingham, Ala. The Pride, La. native has compiled 58 career wins over her career.

Senior Olivia Howlett produced a 7-4 record for the Lady Tigers with a semifinal appearance at the Utah Fall Invitational as a highlight. Junior Kaitlin Burns and Freshman Rebecca Bodine both notched 7-5 records.

Burns won the consolation title at the season’s opening event, the Gopher Invitational, and Bodine reached her first consolation final in her first season at the Rice Invitational.

Hayley Everett, Ebie Wilson, Ariel Morton, Yvette Vlaar and Paige Bahnsen are all coming off strong fall seasons as well, and each will play a vital role in the 2012 dual match campaign.

For the latest information on the women's tennis team, follow the Lady Tigers on Twitter @lsuwten and on www.facebook.com/lsuwten.

Wildcat Invitational
Friday, Jan. 13
10:30 a.m. - LSU vs. UIC (singles)

12:30 - 2:00 p.m. - Break
2:00 p.m. - DePaul vs. LSU (doubles)
3:15 p.m. - Northwestern vs. LSU (doubles)

Saturday, Jan. 14
9:30 a.m. - UIC vs. LSU (doubles)
10:30 a.m. - Random doubles play 12:00 - 1:30 p.m.
2:00 p.m. - Northwestern vs. LSU (singles)

Sunday, Jan. 15
9:00 a.m. – TBA