The men’s and women’s tennis teams finished their respective ITA Kick-Off Weekends on Sunday with losses.The Lady Tigers fell to No. 3 UCLA in Los Angeles on Sunday, 4-1, after UCLA defeated Minnesota on Saturday to advance to a second-round matchup with LSU.LSU’s only victory came when freshman Whitney Wolf defeated No. 63 Maya Johansson, 6-3, 6-4. Senior Megan Falcon’s 15-4 single’s record went unchanged as her match was not finished, 6-4, 3-4, because the Bruins already clinched the victory.The No. 24 Lady Tigers shut out DePaul, 4-0, on Saturday to advance to the second round.”We struggled a little bit with doubles play,” said Falcon, who is ranked No. 5 in the nation. “But after that everyone going to singles felt pretty confident.”The Lady Tigers were led by Falcon, who defeated DePaul senior Dunja Antunovic in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0, in the first round.”I had a slow start, but I was able to pick up momentum as the match progressed,” Falcon said.The No. 16 men traveled to Tulsa and lost to No. 12 Tulsa, 4-2, on Sunday after Tulsa defeated No. 30 Notre Dame in the first round.LSU senior Michael Venus, who is ranked No. 2 in the nation, was defeated by No. 10 Arnau Brugues, 6-1, 6-1.LSU’s only single’s victory came when freshman Neal Skupski defeated Alberto Sottocorno, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (0).The Tigers scored their other point when the doubles teams of Skupski and Venus and freshman Mark Bowtell and senior James Cluskey won their respective matches.The LSU men’s team defeated No. 20 Texas Tech 4-3 in the opening round to advance to the second round on Sunday.The Tigers were led by Venus, who defeated No. 19 Raony Carvalho, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.”I should have won the second set. I had match points in it, and I gave it up,” Venus said. “It was good to come back.”Both teams will come home to Baton Rouge as the Lady Tigers play Southern Methodist in W.T. ‘Dub’ Robinson Stadium on Feb. 6. The Tigers will play Rice in Robinson Stadium on Feb. 7.
 
 
 
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Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]