Spring seemed a little bit brighter in 2014 for LSU Tennis.
After starting the season with four straight losses in Southeastern Conference play, the LSU women’s tennis team’s young talent finally shone through in the SEC Championships on April 16.
In the conference tournament, the Lady Tigers notched arguably their two biggest wins of the season against Mississippi State and No. 31 Tennessee before losing to No. 1 Georgia in the quarterfinals.
The performance catapulted No. 40 LSU to a 14-13 (3-10 SEC) record, and earned the Lady Tigers their first NCAA Tournament birth since 2012 and the first under coach Julia Sell.
“I’ve been telling them for the past two months … as long as we keep getting better, we’re going to find our way into that tournament,” Sell said. I wish we had a video of them jumping up, going crazy … when we heard our names called.”
Sell said she believes LSU wouldn’t have made the NCAA Championships if not for its two victories in the SEC Tournament. A key contributor to those wins was freshman Joana Vale Costa, who marked two of her season-total three singles victories against ranked opponents in the conference championships including a 6-4, 6-2 clincher against Tennessee’s No. 59 Eve Repic.
As No. 74 Costa boasts an 11-8 singles record, All-SEC second-team honors and All-SEC freshman team honors, Sell said LSU still hasn’t “seen the best of her yet.”
Sell can only hope the same goes for the rest of the Lady Tigers as they travel to the University of California at Berkley to face No. 24 Pepperdine on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, the LSU men’s tennis team’s winter lasted longer than expected.
After beginning the season with a 4-3 thrilling road win against Rice, the Tigers went cold, starting 0-6 in the SEC.
Then, LSU saw light at the end of the tunnel. Freshman Justin Butsch emerged, clinching the Tigers first SEC win of the season on March 23 against Ole Miss.
The Miami, Fla. native’s 11-9 (3-3 SEC) record, four clinchers and All-SEC freshman honors illustrated the potential of a young LSU squad.
“It was a little bit of a slow start to the season,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “Justin, along with a couple of the other guys, have really shown that they can compete at the highest level. Every time they played they were learning something different … With a young team, they seem to building toward something.”
The oldest Tiger, junior Chris Simpson joined Butsch in helping LSU finish an up-and-down 2014 season 14-14 (2-10 SEC) While compiling a 11-13 record against 14 ranked opponents, No. 95 Simpson earned Second Team All-SEC honors.
The Tigers reached a .500 record by reaching the quarterfinals of the SEC Championships on April 17. LSU defeated then-No. 17 Mississippi State 4-2 before losing to then-No. 15 Florida 4-0 and ending the season by missing the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in Brown’s 17-year tenure.
“It was important for them to play at the highest level at the end,” Brown said. “Some years, you feel like you’ve gotten to a certain level but this team continued to grow. We’ll have to put that growth into the summer and bring it next year.”