The weekend started well for both the men’s and women’s Tiger tennis teams as both won the doubles point to begin their Southeastern Conference matches against South Carolina.
It was all downhill from there.
The Lady Tigers fell to No. 24 South Carolina, 5-2, on Friday at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium. LSU started with wins from the tandems of Rocio Fantilli and Lauren Seaman, and Camili Caliari and Daysi Espinal.
But in singles play, the Lady Tigers secured only one victory, coming from Espinal against Catherine Brown of the Gamecocks, 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.
The men’s tennis team returned the favor in Columbia, S.C., by winning the doubles point via the No. 14 doubles team of Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley, and the No. 40 doubles team of Cory Ross and Sebastian Rutka.
However, the team fell to No. 16 South Carolina, 4-3, as the Tigers only notched two singles victories, both of which lasted three sets. Fisher defeated Tom Eklund of South Carolina, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2, while freshman Paul White topped Carl Wermee, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5.
On Sunday, the men’s team traveled to face No. 2 Florida Gators in a match that was delayed due to bad weather. The weather only got worse for the Tigers as the Gators manhandled LSU in a 7-0 shutout victory.
With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 7-4 overall and 1-3 in SEC play. The Gators recorded their third consecutive shutout victory over an SEC opponent and improved to 13-2 overall and 4-0 in SEC play.
The women’s tennis team did not fare any better Sunday as it welcomed top-ranked Florida. The Lady Gators shutout LSU, 7-0.
Florida recorded six straight set victories against the Lady Tigers. Fantilli, Jessica Ferguson, Marina Chiarelli, Espinal, Seaman and Caliari all fell in singles play.
LSU women’s tennis head coach Tony Minnis witnessed the Lady Tigers fall to 7-7 on the season and 1-3 in SEC competition.
“We are finding out how difficult every match in the conference is,” Minnis said. “And since the SEC is the top conference in the country, we will have to have intensity every match to be successful.”
Both tennis teams will try to bounce back next weekend. The Lady Tigers host Tennessee and Georgia at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium and the LSU men travel to face Tennessee and Georgia.