The LSU women’s tennis team travels to Lexington today riding a four-game winning streak to take on Kentucky in the Lady Tigers’ first Southeastern Conference matchup this season.
The No. 43 Lady Tigers (5-2) are coming off a successful West coast road trip in which they bested No. 70 San Diego and San Diego State
“We’re excited for us to follow up those two wins in San Diego with a strong performance this weekend,” said assistant coach Lisa Jackson. “What we’re looking for is just what we saw in San Diego — great fight, good heart and leaving it all out on the court.”
The Lady Tigers found success on the road trip by flip-flopping seniors Olivia Howlett and Whitney Wolf in singles play. Wolf has struggled on court one this season, posting a 2-3 record, including losses in both Lady Tiger defeats.
Since Howlett replaced Wolf on court one, both players have seen success.
Howlett is 2-0 on court one, and Wolf is 1-1 on court two with the loss coming in a hard-fought three-set match.
Wolf will be looking to notch her first back-to-back victories of the season against Kentucky.
Despite Wolf’s struggles in singles, she and doubles partner, junior Keri Frankenberger, have won four consecutive matches and are 5-2 this season.
Jackson said doubles play is something the Lady Tigers have been working on in practice this week.
“We know how important the doubles point is,” Jackson said. “You can win without it, but we have to perform better in that area.”
And the Lady Tigers have won without the doubles point.
Against San Diego State, LSU lost the doubles point only to come back and sweep all six singles matches for a 6-1 victory.
Solid singles play has been the cornerstone for the Lady Tigers this season. Frankenberger, junior Kaitlyn Burns and sophomore Yvette Vlaar each have five victories this season.
The Lady Tigers will need to continue that success today against the Wildcats.
“It’s a match that we should definitely win, but I think it’s gonna be a tough match,” Burns said.
The Lady Tigers will also battle Vanderbilt on Sunday before returning home next Friday to play Alabama.
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Contact Spencer Hutchinson at [email protected]