The LSU women’s tennis team received a confidence boost on Sunday with a win against Xavier of New Orleans.
The Lady Tigers (2-5) broke their two-match losing streak against the Gold Nuggets (2-5), dispatching them 6-0 at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
LSU coach Tony Minnis said the team rebounded nicely from a 5-2 loss against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
“It feels good to get a win,” Minnis said. “We have played a hard schedule up to this point. I think the girls needed that for confidence.”
Xavier played only five players and was forced to forfeit a singles match to freshman Ariel Morton. It also foreited a doubles match to freshman Alexus Coats and freshman Hayley Everett. LSU won both of its matches to win the doubles point.
LSU sophomore Keri Frankenberger and freshman Yvette Vlarr defeated Xavier’s Carmen Nelson and Amber Brown 8-0, while senior Kylie Adamek and Morton defeated the sibling team of Melissa DeLoach and Nicole DeLoach, 8-1.
“I think we weren’t too happy with the result, and we really wanted to jump on these guys,” said Frankenberger. “We just really wanted to get that win because [Saturday] was so tough.”
Frankenberger also defeated Nelson 6-1, 6-0 for her first singles win of the season. She received redemption for a 6-4, 7-6 loss to Oklahoma State’s C.C. Sardinha on Saturday.
“It definitely is a confidence booster,” Frankenberger said. “I’ve had a slow start to the season and getting a win definitely felt good.”
Minnis used the match against Xavier to give some freshmen their first playing time of the season. Everett and Coats both received their first wins of the spring.
Everett defeated Xavier’s Ashley McGill 6-0, 6-0, while Coats beat Melissa DeLoach 6-3, 6-1.
Things didn’t go as well for the LSU men’s tennis team (3-5), who fell 6-1 to No. 14 Texas A&M (8-3).
LSU sophomore Olivier Borsos and senior Julien Gauthier lost to Colin Hoover and Alberto Bautista, 8-4, to begin doubles play. The Tigers No. 14 duo of Neal Skupski and Sebastian Carlsson tied it up, 1-1, with a win over the No. 1 ranked team of Jeff Dadmo and Austin Krajicek.
But LSU junior Tom Knights and sophomore Roger Anderson lost 9-8 (7-3) Texas A&M’s Junior Ore and Alexey Grigorov for the deciding point.
The Tigers’ only win in singles play came from No. 88 Skupski, who defeated No. 29 Krajicek in three sets (7-5, 6-7, 10-5).
LSU men’s coach Jeff Brown said he was pleased with the effort in doubles and felt particularly proud of Skupski and Carlsson, who won their eighth match in a row.
“It came down to a tiebreaker. We would probably take that most of the time, playing on the road against a good team,” Brown said. “[Skupski and Carlsson] have been playing well. They found a way to win against the best team in the nation.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will both begin Southeastern Conference play against Florida on Friday. The Lady Tigers will host the Lady Gators at Robinson Stadium, while the Tigers will play on the road in Gainesville. 
 
 
 
 
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