Sunday, 01/15/2012

EVANSTON Ill. – The LSU Lady Tigers Tennis team finished the first weekend of the 2012 season on a high note winning four of six singles matches against DePaul during the third and final day of play at the Wildcat Invitational inside the Combe Tennis Center on the Northwestern campus Sunday.

The Lady Tigers finished the weekend with 19 victories and 11 losses in matches against No. 12 Northwestern, DePaul and University of Illinois at Chicago.

“I was really pleased this weekend with our entire team’s play,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “I though Whitney Wolf and Olivia Howlett did a fantastic job for us. I was impressed with Yvette Vlaar and Ariel Morton in singles today to end the weekend on a good note. Hopefully it will give us some momentum to start our dual match season next weekend.”

Whitney Wolf got off to a quick start taking the first set 6-1 before Fargas evened the match by taking the second frame 5-7. The senior Pride, La., native responded well in the final set finishing the match going away 6-1.

Olivia Howlett also notched a hard-fought three set victory over Jasmin Kling, as the two split the first two sets 6-2, 3-6, before Howlett took the third by a break of serve 6-4.

Yvette Vlaar and Ariel Morton cruised to comfortable wins as Vlaar defeated Carolin Neumann 6-3, 6-3 and Morton topped Cali Gustafson 6-0, before the Blue Demon was forced to retire after the first set.

Keri Frankenberger narrowly fell in one of the day’s most tension filled matches. The junior Gainesville, Fla., native fought back from dropping the first set 6-2, to Gia McKnight to win the second stanza 3-6. The third set went the distance as the two players traded blows with McKnight taking final set 7-6 (8) in the tiebreaker.
                                                                                                              
Kelsey Lawson defeated Rebecca Bodine 6-4, 7-6 (3).

The Lady Tigers begin their dual match season next Sunday in Boulder, Co., as they take on the Colorado Buffaloes with play beginning at 11 a.m. CT.

LSU vs. DePaul singles
1. Wolf (LSU) def. Fargas (DPU) (6-1, 5-7, 6-1)
2. Howlett (LSU) def. Kling (DPU) (6-2, 2-6, 6-4)
3. McKnight (DPU) def. Frankenberger (LSU) (6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (8))
4. Lawson (DPU) def. Bodine (LSU) (6-4, 7-6 (3))
5. Vlaar (LSU) def. Neumann (DPU) (6-3, 6-3)
6. Morton (LSU) def. Gustafson (DPU) (6-0, ret.)