Saturday turned out to have positive results for the LSU men’s and women’s tennis teams.
The men’s team took down no. 24 USF in a 4-3 upset, and the Lady Tigers won their third straight match against Wake Forest 4-0.
The Tigers (1-2) were led by senior Jordan Daigle, sophomore Nikola Samardzic and senior Justin Butsch, as all three won their singles match, with Butsch’s win being the overall match winner.
“For being so early in the year, our team really played together in a sense of how hard they fought to play as a team,” coach Jeff Brown said in a press release. “The matches that we played were won with a lot of heart.”
The Lady Tigers (3-1) posted their third straight shutout in three tries.
Senior Joana Valle Costa and junior Ryann Foster were standouts in Saturday’s match against Wake Forest, winning both of their singles matches, and teaming up for a win as doubles partners.
“We did a good job today from top to bottom of dictating play and staying focused on our individual matches against a very good Wake Forest team,” said co-head coach Julia Sell in a press release on Saturday.
However, Sunday’s matches turned out to be a different story.
The men’s team was beaten by Florida 4-0, and the Lady Tigers fared equally as bad with a 4-2 loss against Ole Miss.
Despite the defeat, Brown is more than willing to point out the positives to keep the confidence high in his talented young squad.
“We are very encouraged from this weekend,” Brown said. “We know what we are capable of and excited to get back home and build off of this weekend.”
The Tigers will return to Baton Rouge with their next match on Friday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. against Santa Clara at the LSU Tennis Complex.
For the Lady Tigers, Valle Costa failed to repeat her previous performances on Sunday, and dropped both her singles match and doubles match.
However, freshman Jade Lewis defeated her first nationally ranked opponent in no. 31 Arianne Hartono.
The Lady Tigers will return to Baton Rouge with and get ready to compete against Memphis on Friday and North Florida on Saturday.
