Sunday, 01/22/2012

BOULDER, Colo. – The LSU Lady Tigers tennis team begin a new dual match season on Sunday against Colorado inside the Millennium Hotel Harvest House bubble with play getting underway at 11 a.m. CT.

“I am really excited about starting the season,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “I like the way this group has prepared, and we will have a tough test tomorrow.”

LSU returns eight of ten members from a team that won one more dual match a year ago from their 2009-2010 campaign. Two freshmen enter the fold this season as both will serve to improve and reinforce the squad.

The team steadily improved throughout the 2011 fall season with a crescendo at their final event of 2011, the Utah Fall Invitational, which saw LSU players win the doubles title and reach the singles final.

Seniors
Leading the way for the Lady Tigers will be a pair of talented seniors in Whitney Wolf and Olivia Howlett.

Wolf leads all active Lady Tigers with 60 career singles victories following a solid fall season that saw her go 9-5. Wolf reached the Utah Fall Invitational main draw final, and she has won 10 of her last 12 singles matches dating back to fall 2011, including a semifinal appearance at the ITA Southern Regional in Birmingham, Ala. She also teamed with Junior Keri Frankenberger to win the main draw doubles title in Utah as the pair won all of their matches in fall 2011.

Howlett produced a 7-4 record for the Lady Tigers in the fall, with a semifinal appearance at the Utah Fall Invitational as a highlight. This spring season will be her first full campaign for LSU and she will be called upon to play a pivotal role for the team.

Juniors
LSU’s Junior Class will be called upon to take on a heavy burden in 2012. Kaitlin Burns went 7-5 during fall 2011, highlighted by her consolation bracket title at the season's opening event, the Gopher Invitational. The former All-Louisiana selection also teamed with three partners to win a total of five doubles matches during the fall.

Keri Frankenberger saw limited action in fall 2011 competing in just two singles matches, but she won all three of her doubles matches en route to the Utah Fall Invitational doubles championship alongside Whitney Wolf. Frankenberger is among the most decorated of the current crop of Lady Tigers as she has collected SEC All-Freshman Team, All-SEC Second Team, SEC Freshman of the Week, All-Louisiana First Team and Louisiana Freshman of the Year honors during her time in Baton Rouge. The Gainesville, Fla. Native has won 31 career matches, and she will be looked to as veteran leader in 2012.

Ebie Wilson compiled the best record of any LSU singles player over the 2011 spring season. The Mobile, Ala., native was the Lady Tigers sole All-Louisiana First Team selection. Wilson led the squad with a 12-6 singles record racing out to a terrific start, as she prevailed in 11 of her first 13 matches before suffering a back injury in late March.

Sophomores
Yvette Vlaar finished second on the team in spring singles victories with 11 and was tied for the team-lead with 10 spring doubles wins. She also went on a tear in March winning seven of eight matches including a five-match winning streak. Vlaar also finished the season with wins in three of her final four singles matches.

Ariel Morton won 11 singles and 15 doubles matches during the 2010-11 season with the high point coming during a four-match singles win streak to help fuel the Lady Tigers’ overall success during March. She continued improving into fall 2011 as she went 4-1 in doubles alongside fellow sophomore Yvette Vlaar as well as Rebecca Bodine.

Hayley Everett is coming off a fall 2011 campaign that saw her steadily improve upon her freshman campaign for the Lady Tigers. The Mandeville, La., native won four matches on the singles courts and four on the doubles courts in tournament play to close out 2011.

Freshmen
The Lady Tigers welcome two newcomers in 2012 in the form of Rebecca Bodine and Paige Bahnsen.

Bodine compiled a 7-6 singles record during the fall, highlighted by reaching her first consolation final in her first season at the Rice Invitational. The final was rained out. She also won four doubles matches during the fall. Bahnsen won four doubles matches during the fall, to go along with two singles victories.

LSU began the 2012 season last week with 19 victories and 11 losses in matches against No. 12 Northwestern, DePaul and University of Illinois at the Wildcat Spring Invitational outside Chicago.