Revenge is sweet, especially for the LSU women’s tennis team.LSU (9-13, 4-6) won three of its four matches during spring break to snap a three-match losing skid, including a 5-2 victory last Sunday against Auburn.The victory against Auburn was especially sweet for LSU coach Tony Minnis, whose team was blanked by Auburn, 4-0,  Jan. 29 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend.”I’m really, really proud of this team,” Minnis said in a news release after the win against Auburn. “We’re playing at a whole different level and intensity.”LSU started the break with a 5-2 victory against Alabama on April 2 in what Minnis believed to be LSU’s strongest match of the year.”That was our best effort this season,” he said. “We played hard up and down the line in both singles and doubles.”Following the sweep at home, the Lady Tigers went on the road and surged past bottom-dweller Kentucky, who has yet to win a Southeastern Conference match, 6-1.Sophomore Whitney Wolf picked up her third win against a nationally-ranked opponent this season with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, victory against No. 98 Megan Broderick.LSU’s three-match winning streak came to a halt Sunday in Nashville, Tenn., with a 6-1 loss to Vanderbilt.The Lady Tigers used their momentum from the previous three matches to squeak out the doubles point, highlighted by a 8-6 doubles victory from Wolf and freshman Keri Frankenberger against No. 25 Chelsea Preeg and Jackie Wu.But LSU faltered in singles, losing all six matches.LSU returns home Saturday to wrap up its regular season for Senior Day against Arkansas.Meanwhile, the No. 51 LSU men’s tennis team suffered four losses during the break, pushing its losing streak to seven games.
“I sure hope we’ve gained experience through all these close losses,” LSU coach Jeff Brown said after a 4-3 loss Sunday to No. 32 Vanderbilt at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.LSU (5-13, 2-8) had opportunities to take the match from Vanderbilt on several occasions after trading blows in singles to notch the match at 3-3 but fell short when the Commodores Adam Baker knocked off LSU freshman Stefan Szacinski in three sets, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.The Tigers started the match with a doubles win from junior Sebastian Carlsson and sophomore Neal Skupski, but the Commodores stormed back with two doubles wins of their own to clinch the doubles point.Brown was adamant about how anemic the Tigers doubles play has been all season.”We certainly haven’t developed any consistency at No. 2 or No. 3 doubles, and that’s where you get hurt so much starting every match down 1-0,” Brown said.LSU dropped a pair of road matches last weekend to Alabama by a slim 4-3 decision, and Auburn, 5-2.  The Tigers’ home court advantage was non-existent Friday as the they returned home, losing to No. 11 Kentucky, 5-2.The loss to Kentucky marked the 10th time LSU has lost to a top-25 team this spring, with the only victory coming March 19 against then-No. 23 Wake Forest.LSU hosts South Florida on Tuesday in a non-conference match that had been originally scheduled for March 9 but was rescheduled because of inclement weather.—-Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected]