The No. 20 LSU women’s tennis team won its first Southeastern Conference match of the season Sunday when senior Mykala Hedberg won a three-set match to clinch the team’s 4-3 victory against No. 13 Kentucky.Hedberg fell behind 5-4 in the first set, but she broke back and held on to win the set, 7-5. Hedberg lost the second set, 4-6, and battled in the third set with Kentucky’s Carolina Escamilla. Escamilla was one point away from tying the set at 5-all before Hedberg put the match away, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.”I was just telling myself to get my match and get that fourth point so we didn’t have to rely on doubles,” Hedberg said. “[Kentucky] is a top team, and we really wanted to get this win. We had a rough weekend last weekend in the beginning of [SEC play], and we wanted to get after it and take care of matches on our home court.”LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis said he was excited for Hedberg to get such a key win after starting off slowly this season.”I’m really proud of her, especially when she was down set points in the first set,” Minnis said. “She got off to a rough start at the beginning of the season. To her credit and to her character, she pulled herself together and did extra training, and she’s got a lot of confidence. She’s playing some good tennis right now.”LSU senior Megan Falcon, the No. 12 player in the nation, continued her winning ways as she defeated No. 96 sophomore Megan Broderick, 7-6 (3), 6-0. It was Falcon’s 23rd win of the season and 88th of her career. Falcon said she lost concentration a bit after going up 4-1 in the first set, but she rallied to win the first-set tiebreaker and cruised in the second set.”I lost focus a little bit, but after I got down 5-4 [in the first set], I was able to get my focus back and play better,” Falcon said.Minnis said Falcon’s play throughout her career is something to admire.”It’s easy to take her for granted because she has done so much for our program and just won constantly,” Minnis said. “She responds every time out.”The Lady Tigers’ match Friday against Vanderbilt was rained out and postponed until the SEC tournament in April.The LSU men’s tennis team split its SEC matches on the road this weekend. The No. 41 Tigers defeated No. 39 Vanderbilt, 4-3, on Friday, but they lost to No. 21 Kentucky, 7-0, on Sunday.LSU freshman Mark Bowtell sealed the win for the Tigers against the Commodores, winning in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4, against James Moye. “For Bowtell to clinch the last match is definitely a confidence boost,” LSU men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown said in a news release. “The team was happy to get the win after a tough opening SEC weekend.”Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers lost their first two SEC matches of the year to Auburn and Alabama last weekend.Against Kentucky, LSU freshman Neal Skupski lost in straight sets to Brad Cox, 7-5, 6-4, to clinch the win for the Wildcats.With the match already in hand, Kentucky’s Bruno Agostinelli, the No. 2 player in the nation, defeated LSU junior Michael Venus, the No. 9 player in the nation, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0 (6) in a third-set super tiebreaker.LSU returns to the courts at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium Wednesday. The Lady Tigers will play a doubleheader against Tulsa at noon and Grambling at 4 p.m., and the Tigers will face South Florida at 4 p.m.——Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]