LSU women’s tennis opened up NCAA championships play with what will likely be their lowest ranked opponent of the bracket in Boston University, but that didn’t mean this was going to be easy. The Terriers were coming off of a nine-match win streak entering the match and were ready to prove themselves and pull off the upset.
But the Tigers did not let that happen, not playing down to their competition and giving the match as much effort as they could. That effort showed in the box score, as the Tigers were able to pull off the sweep, defeating Boston University 4-0 while only having one court in singles that was technically trailing at the end.
After experimenting with lineups in doubles to finish off the season, the Tigers went back to the originals. That decision seemed to be a good one, as two of their three duos performed exceptionally well.
No. 84 Taylor Bridges and Paris Corley replicated what we saw many times throughout the regular season, dominating their Terrier opponents and not suffering a single loss throughout the set. Boston University managed to even up the doubles score with a victory on Court Five and looked to be catching up on Court One, ultimately pushing LSU’s Eden Richardson and Nina Geissler to a tenth game.
But that tenth game would be the last, as the duo would obtain the final win they needed, taking the match 6-4.
Singles started off slow, with LSU going down on multiple courts to start, but they quickly turned it around and soon had the lead on every court. In comparing singles and doubles, LSU looked a lot more dominant in singles, displaying the balance of talent they hold across the board.
Entering the second sets, the Tigers had four courts in their favor and that eventually transitioned into five court leads and one court that was about to even its match up. And one by one, those leads translated onto the scoreboard.
No. 53 Taylor Bridges, Eden Richardson and Maggie Cubitt controlled their matches from the start and were able to carry that control all the way to victory. And despite slow starts on the other courts, they showed the possibility of a 7-0 sweep had the match been played out.
“I thought we got better and better as the match went on,” Coach Michael Sell said regarding the performance. “Took care of today and survived another day in the tournament.”
Tomorrow’s match will be a lot more of a challenge, as the Tigers will face off against No. 20 Michigan (17-3), who defeated Rice 4-1 in the first round. With multiple wins over No. 21 Northwestern and a win of Big Ten champs, Ohio State, they could be a problem for the Tigers.
“Michigan is a team we haven’t played since National Indoors many, many years ago,” Sell said. “[They’re a] completely different team since the last time we played them. They’re really well-coached, compete really hard and that’s what it’s about.”
LSU and Michigan will kick off tomorrow at 1 p.m., and with both teams being in the top-20, it’s a match that a lot of contenders will be keeping an eye on. With a win tomorrow, LSU could add another historic accolade to their resume, as it would be the first time they’ve been to the Sweet 16 since the start of the millennium.
