The LSU women’s tennis team suffered two tough defeats at the hands of Southeastern Conference opponents this weekend.
In the first match of the weekend LSU saw the Lady Tigers face off against No. 14 Auburn.
Auburn took away a 7-0 victory over LSU that saw LSU stay competitive throughout the match.
Auburn started off quickly, taking the doubles point even with the duo LSU duo of sophomore Mary Jeremiah and junior Ariel Morton continuing their strong play.
“Our No. 1 doubles came out firing and played really well,” LSU coach Julia Sell said.
While LSU stayed competitive throughout the singles competition it still suffered defeats on all six courts.
LSU has struggled with putting away matches in recent weeks and the problem resurfaced in the match against Auburn.
LSU held leads during the first set of every match — with the exception of senior Ebie Wilson — yet couldn’t hold on to win any of the points.
Sell was impressed with LSU’s performance, though.
“In singles, it was the most competitive first set we’ve played all year,” Sell said. “We won one of them and almost won a few more and because we were playing against a team that’s No. 14 in the country, that is nothing short of exceptional.”
LSU’s weekend continued against another SEC opponent as they traveled to Tuscaloosa to face off against the Crimson Tide of Alabama.
The Tigers struggled continued against Alabama as they fell to a 1-6 defeat.
Freshman Caroline Hudson was the only Tiger to pick up a win on the afternoon.
“[Hudson] made some adjustments today to pull out the win,” Sell said.
Burns continued her solid play of the last few matches, by taking the No. 20 player — Alabama’s Mary Anne Macfarlane — in the nation into a third set super tiebreaker. Burns ultimately lost the third set 7-10.
“[Burns’ had a great match with a top player and showed today why she is our No. 1 player and a leader on this team,” Sell said.
The Tigers will continue SEC play against Texas A&M at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium on Friday.
“”We are getting better with every match,” Sell said. “The more committed our entire team stays to improving, the faster we will start to pull out some wins.”
