The Lady Tigers are no stranger to repeated history, good or bad.
After sweeping the University of Mississippi (5-18, 1-11) during the regular season 7-0, the Lady Tigers defeated the Rebels again Friday, this time 4-0 in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Lexington, Ky.
“Ole Miss played really hard,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said in a press release. “I knew they would come out hard, but we scrapped and played well. I was especially pleased with the effort.”
The match began poorly for the Lady Tigers (16-8, 6-6) as sophomores Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg lost to Ilana Somers and Soledad Podlipnik, 8-2. But sophomore Staten Spencer and freshman Nicole Kantor were not ready to go home early, winning 8-6. The Lady Tigers won the doubles point when junior Anastasyia Dubova and freshman Hannah Robinson defeated Nika Koukhartchouk and Preethi Subramanian 8-5.
No. 2 Megan Falcon defeated No. 39 Somers in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, winning her 22nd match of the season.
Dubova put LSU up 3-0 as she downed Carlin Cochran, 7-5, 6-1.
Hedberg ended the match with a 6-4, 7-5 rout of Nika Koukhartchouk.
“Team-wise, it felt really good,” Hedberg said. “It is nice to know you can get through the first round of SECs. That is usually where all the nerves are. It was good for me because I have been struggling in the last few matches. It is nice to be able to get the win and clinch the match.”
The Lady Tigers faced defending SEC Champions No. 3 University of Florida on Saturday for the second time this season. Earlier in the season, LSU fell to the Lady Gators 7-1 at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
During the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, the Lady Gators (20-1, 11-1) defeated the Lady Tigers 4-1, pushing Florida’s all-time record against LSU to 33-0.
“I was really proud of the way we fought,” Minnis said. “That was as hard as we have fought all year. We showed a lot of heart. You have to tip off your hat to Florida. They came through in the clutch in the big matches when they had to.”
The Lady Tigers lost the doubles point against the Gators for the second time this season.
Singles did not bode well for the Lady Tigers either. Dubova fell first, 6-3, 6-0. With LSU down 2-0, Robinson lost in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 to No. 122 Nina Suvak.
Once again, Falcon won her match to give the Lady Tigers their only point of the match, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3.
Down 3-1, the Lady Tigers lost the match when Spencer fell to No. 62 Csilla Borsanyi in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
The Lady Tigers will have to wait until May 1 for their next step, when they find out their seed in the 2007 NCAA Tournament selections.
—–Contact Nicholas Vlahos at [email protected]