The No. 25 LSU women’s tennis team earned a weekend sweep, getting past Ole Miss on Friday, 4-3 and Mississippi State on Sunday, 5-2.
Led by sophomore Daysi Espinal, LSU (11-6, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) avenged its SEC tournament loss to the Lady Rebels last April with the win.
Espinal earned the victory on the No. 6 court, defeating Emily Ladyman, 7-5, 6-0.
Coach Tony Minnis said he felt the team was in control from the beginning.
“We played really well,” Minnis said. “I felt like we were in control of the match. We won the doubles point and won five of our first singles sets.”
With the loss, Ole Miss (9-8, 1-6) dropped its third straight match prior to winning three in a row.
LSU began the match earning the doubles point, winning two of the three doubles matches.
The Lady Tigers’ only loss came when the No. 36 ranked duo of Chloe Carlotti and Virginia Tomatis defeated LSU’s Rocio Fantilli and Lauren Seaman, 8-4.
On Sunday, LSU rebounded from an early doubles point loss to overcome the Lady Bulldogs, 5-2.
LSU’s only doubles victory came on the No. 3 court as Camila Caliari and Espinal got past Michelle Hirt and Justina Switala, 8-0.
In the singles, LSU’s Jessica Ferguson defeated Hirt on the No. 1 court, 6-1, 7-5.
On the men’s side, the No. 4 ranked Ole Miss Rebels proved too much
as the Tigers failed to pull the upset, losing 5-2 on Friday.
LSU managed to jump back on Sunday, getting past Mississippi State 6-1.
Coach Jeff Brown said the loss to Ole Miss was not an easy loss to take.
“We’re disappointed,” Brown said. “We think we’re the type of team
who could go a long way, and this is the kind of match we should win.”
LSU (11-3, 3-3) managed to earn the doubles point against the Rebels but failed to capitalize on the lead.
Following the doubles sets, Ole Miss (15-1, 6-0) picked up the first three singles sets, putting the Tigers down 3-1.
On the No. 1 court, freshman Ken Skupski was unable to knock off the No. 4 ranked Catalin Gard, losing 7-6, (7-3), 6-3.
LSU’s only singles victory came when senior Bryan Fisher knocked off Paul Ciorascu on the No. 3 court, 6-4, 7-6 (7-6).
Brown said he is looking to improve on getting everybody to play at the same level.
“We’ve had different people playing well at different times, and we’ve had most of the team playing well at the same time,” Brown said. “We need everybody out there playing their best tennis.”
On Sunday, LSU dominated from the beginning in defeating Mississippi State, 6-1.
LSU got off to a quick start, winning all three of the doubles sets, giving the Tigers the doubles point.
On the No. 2 singles court, LSU’s Jason Hazley defeated Luiz Carvalho, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (13-11).
LSU’s only singles loss came on the No. 3 court as Mississippi State’s Max Fomine got past Bryan Fisher, 7-5, 6-3.
“It’s good to win, but it’s more important that we had everybody that was on the court competing hard,” Brown said. “In order to go through and have a chance at something significant this season, we’re going to have everyone fully invested and committed to making the changes that are necessary.”