Saturday, 04/14/2012

BATON ROUGE – Whitney Wolf won both her doubles match and her singles match on senior day, but it was not enough as the LSU women’s tennis team (11-11; 4-7 SEC) lost to Arkansas (11-12; 2-9 SEC) by a 5-2 scoreline to complete the regular season on Saturday at W.T. Dub Robinson Stadium.

Wolf was in top form on court one Saturday as she and Keri Frankenberger toppled Laurie Gingras and Claudine Paulson 8-3, before the Pride, La., product finalized a memorable senior day performance by cruising past Emily Carbone 6-3, 6-2 in singles.

The Lady Tigers forced the final three singles matches to third sets after falling behind 3-1 overall, but they claimed just one of those courts to come up a bit short.

Morton kept LSU alive in the match with a 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Catherine Parenteau on court six to put the pressure on courts two and five. The Houston native raised her level in the second set tiebreaker to finish the match going away.

Kate Lukomskaya was forced to work for everything she got to clinch the match for Arkansas 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 over Yvette Vlaar on court five. Both players traded multiple breaks early in the final stanza before Lukomskaya pulled away late.

“It was a tough match especially on Senior Day,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “We gave it a good shot. I felt we were a little bit nervous to start the match. We ended up winning four first sets in singles, but we just weren’t able to close it out. We just need to regroup and get ready for the SEC Tournament.

Wolf and Olivia Howlett were honored as LSU's two seniors on the court before the match.

Wolf and Frankenberger got the Lady Tigers off to a nice start on the afternoon on court one with their team-best 12th dual match victory of the season.

LSU proceeded to drop the next two doubles courts as Howlett and Yvette Vlaar fell 8-6 to Emily Carbone and Stephanie Roy on court two. Parenteau and Kate Lukomskaya then clinched the doubles point 8-6 over Kaitlin Burns and Ariel Morton on court three.

Whitney Wolf evened the overall score at 1-1 with her 67th career singles triumph.

Arkansas would claim the next two courts as Gingras beat Ebie Wilson 6-0, 6-3 on court four and Paulson ground out a 6-3, 6-3 result against Burns on court three to make the overall score 3-1.

Morton then earned her first singles victory of the dual match season, but Arkansas next-clinched the overall result on court five.

Howlett’s last match in Dub Robinson Stadium went to a third set, but Roy had just enough to squeak out a 4-6, 7-6 (4) result on court two to conclude the match.

The Lady Tigers next travel to Oxford, Miss., for the SEC Tournament beginning on Thursday.

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#43 Arkansas 5, #37 LSU 2

Singles

1. Whitney Wolf (LSU) def. Emily Carbone (ARK) 6-3, 6-2
2. Stephanie Roy (ARK) def. Olivia Howlett (LSU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
3. Claudine Paulson (ARK) def. Kaitlin Burns (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Laurie Gingras (ARK) def. Ebie Wilson (LSU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Kate Lukomskaya (ARK) def. Yvette Vlaar (LSU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
6. Ariel Morton (LSU) def. Catherine Parenteau (ARK) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)

Doubles

1. Whitney Wolf/Keri Frankenberger (LSU) def. Laurie Gingras/Claudine Paulson (ARK) 8-3
2. Emily Carbone/Stephanie Roy (ARK) def. Olivia Howlett/Yvette Vlaar (LSU) 8-6
3. Kate Lukomskaya/Catherine Parenteau (ARK) def. Ariel Morton/Kaitlin Burns (LSU) 8-6

Match Notes:

Arkansas 10-12; 2-8 SEC; National ranking #43
LSU 11-10, 4-6 SEC; National ranking #37
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,4,3,6,5,2)