After snapping a four-game losing streak with a 6-1 win against Prairie View A&M on Wednesday, the LSU women’s tennis team hosts the University of Kansas today in W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
The Lady Tigers (8-5, 0-4) are set to play the Jayhawks (6-6) at 4 p.m. in their last non-conference home match of the year.
“They are a really good team,” said LSU coach Tony Minnis. “They’ve played very well, and we have to be ready to play.”
LSU brings an 8-1 non-conference record into the match. In their five losses, the Lady Tigers have dropped the opening doubles point.
“We can’t get into a hole early,” Minnis said. “It is important for us to come out and try and establish early on we are here to play and not get our backs against the wall. We’ve been playing from behind way too much.”
The 6-1 win against Prairie View A&M was the first for LSU since its 7-0 win against the University of Houston on March 1.
“It feels awesome to win again, but we have to stay focused, take the win and keep focused against Kansas,” said LSU senior Marina Chiarelli.
The match is the Lady Tigers’ second consecutive non-conference match since their 0-4 start in Southeastern Conference play.
Chiarelli said the team cannot forget about the SEC teams, and they have to be ready for tough competition.
“I think all of the SEC is tough, especially the East, but we still have seven or eight [SEC] matches left, so we can’t take a break,” Chiarelli said.
Kansas snapped its own four-game losing skid during the weekend by shutting out Southern University 7-0 on Sunday.
Minnis said the Jayhawks are a very impressive team, and their record does not justify their level of play.
“They had some close losses,” Minnis said. “They lost 4-3 to Oklahoma State and 4-3 to Arkansas.”
The Lady Tigers will enter the match missing one of their top doubles players. Senior Lauren Seaman injured her back Feb. 28 in the match against Lamar University.
LSU has won only one match without Seaman this season. After returning to the court against Prairie View A&M, Seaman received more bad news about her injured back.
“It doesn’t look good,” Minnis said. “We found out she has a stress fracture in both sides of her back.”
 
Contact Jay St. Pierre at [email protected]