No. 18 LSU headed into the ITA National Indoor Championship in Seattle, Wash. to face some of the toughest competition in the country and prove they deserve their ranking.
The opening match for the Lady Tigers was against No. 1 Stanford. LSU looked to ride the early season success and undefeated record through the tournament. The team hit a road bump when facing Stanford’s great team.
No. 19 sophomore Eden Richardson dropped her first set to No. 23-ranked Michaela Gordon in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-2.
Senior Jessica Golovin won her first set but eventually lost in a three set fight, 7-5, 6-1 and 6-0. Sophomore Taylor Bridges fell in her match for first time this season, 6-2 and 6-3.
The Lady Tigers were behind 3-0 and hoped to find some late success. Senior Kennan Johnson found stiff competition losing both sets 6-2 against No. 14-ranked Emily Arbuthnott. LSU lost to the No. 1-ranked Stanford 4-0.
“We had a tough loss against the No. 1 team in the country,” co-head coach Michael Sell said. “However, we became a better team today as this match showed we can compete, with success, against any team across the net from us.”
The next step was No. 12-ranked Northwestern, who LSU played this year in the Tiger Fall Classic. The Lady Tigers secured three singles wins and two doubles wins against Northwestern during the fall tournament. The team hoped to use that success to continue their hopes in the ITA tournament.
No. 6-ranked duo of Golovin and Richardson have proven how good they are together throughout the season. The duo showed that again, gaining a quick victory 6-3. Johnson and freshman Anna Loughlan had early success, but they fell in the long run 7-5. Corley and Bridges fought hard to gain the Lady Tigers first point of the ITA tournament but fell 7-6(4).
Sophomore Luba Vasilyuk gave LSU their first point of the tournament winning in both sets 6-2. Bridges gave the Lady Tigers their first lead of the weekend after a strong win, 6-3 and 7-5. Golovin was matched up against No. 72-ranked Julie Byrne, but Golovin fell 7-5 and 6-1 leaving the match tied at 2-2.
The match continued to go back and forth as gave LSU the lead again with a 7-5 and 6-4 win. The Lady Tigers looked to their young star No. 19-ranked Richardson to close the match out, but she lost in two heartbreaking sets, 7-6(2) in both. All that was left for the Lady Tigers was one of their seniors, Kennan Johnson. She battled in three sets ultimately losing, and Northwestern won 4-3.
“For us to come within a point of beating No. 12 Northwestern when we were nowhere near our best shows how far this team has come and how far we have the ability to go,” Sell said. “We are proud of the entire team, they fought like Tigers and represented LSU to a high standard. We will continue to work hard to improve and enjoy every aspect of the process. This is only the beginning.”
