It has been said many times over the course of this season that the LSU women’s tennis team has faced what seems to be many challenges. From COVID-19 protocol compliances to challenging opponents, these struggles are reflected in an overall record of 5-14.
This difficult season comes after much scrutiny of co-head coaches Julia and Mike Sell, who were implicated in investigations on LSU’s sexual assault problem.
A USA Today article published in November 2020 said that the Sells knew about multiple cases of abuse, but chose not to do anything about it.
When Husch Blackwell investigated these claims, their released report said the evidence could not prove the accusations, but did not say the accusations were untrue. This left questions as to the future of these coaches at LSU, but the university has yet to take action despite calls by fans to fire them.
In this far-from-normal season, LSU had to cancel or reschedule several matches. Rescheduling or cancelling the February matches against TCU, SMU, Tulane and Southern took away the importance of early-season play. These cancellations forced the Tigers into the always difficult SEC play with few matches under their belts.
Three straight losses to start SEC play against Florida, South Carolina and Ole Miss, followed by three wins against Mississippi State, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, show the many ups and downs the Tigers have experienced. In SEC play alone, they recorded four wins with nine losses.
LSU was unable to capture key wins or keep streaks going for long enough to gain momentum.
At the beginning of the season, when the Tigers were able to play without having to reschedule or cancel, key players were missing in the lineup. LSU had to forfeit courts during the early matches at the start of SEC play due to missing players, who had or were recovering from COVID-19, giving opponents early advantages.
One of the most staggering truths is many of these losses were not even close to being wins, with opponents winning by more than four points.
The Tigers rounded out conference and regular season play with a 7-0 loss to Arkansas that foreshadowed what was to come in the postseason.
At the SEC Championships on Wednesday, April 20, the Tigers lost out in the first round against Kentucky by a score of 4-2. LSU had already beaten the Wildcats earlier in the season 4-1 and were seeded above Kentucky. Despite being expected to win this first match and taking the early lead after doubles, the Tigers just could not pull it off in singles.
While frustrating for many fans, this loss to Kentucky is just another example of their overall downfalls this season.
With all of these problems dating back to 2020, many have begun to question whether recruiting would decline, and after this season, it still remains to be seen.
Two future Tigers did sign National Letters of Intent in November. Nikita Vishwase, the blue-chip recruit, is currently the No. 1 player from Arizona. Noor Carrington is a five-star recruit from Massachusetts, the younger sister of Safiya Carrington, who already plays for LSU.
Still, this season seems to have left more questions than answers about the future of the LSU team with only five recorded wins out of 19 matches played.
