The LSU men’s and women’s tennis teams were looking for redemption this weekend.
Both teams finally found it after frustrating 6-1 losses on Feb. 9 and 10, respectively.
That redemption came Saturday and Sunday with convincing victories in doubleheaders at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
The No. 35 Lady Tigers (5-2) knocked off New Mexico, 6-1, and Grambling, 7-0, Saturday. Winning both doubles points in a sweep was especially key for LSU, junior Mykala Hedberg said.
“We want to get solid throughout the lineup so we can pretty much be guaranteed that point every time,” Hedberg said. “When you win or lose the doubles point, it’s a huge swing with the momentum.”
Hedberg paired with fellow junior Megan Falcon on Saturday, as the Lady Tigers varied their doubles teams. The duo jumped to a 4-0 lead before closing out the match against New Mexico’s Lucy Scott and Sandra Zmak, 8-3.
Sophomore Hannah Robinson rebounded in a roller-coaster singles match and defeated Emma Hayman, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 10-8. Robinson said she was focused on coming back from a loss in straight sets this past weekend.
“Last week, I got down pretty early … and I lost pretty bad,” Robinson said. “I just thought, ‘I’m not going to let that happen again, because it was pretty embarrassing, and [Saturday] I just did everything I could to win.” LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis said the team was more relaxed on the court.
“They just played calm,” Minnis said. “Hannah [Robinson] was a little tight early, but when she calmed down she played really well in the end.”
On the men’s side, the No. 18 Tigers (3-1) also got off to a fast start by sweeping both Southern Mississippi and Southern, 7-0. After the wins, the team emphasized the importance of getting prepared for next week’s matches.
“You try to build confidence throughout the pre-SEC season,” said LSU coach Jeff Brown. “We’ve made a lot of changes in the fall, and now it’s a chance for these guys to put them into play and gain confidence. Our confidence should be good going into next week’s matches [against Clemson and Texas A&M] which will be a step up as far as where [our opponents] are ranked.”
Junior Michael Venus continued his strong start in his first year on the court for LSU, knocking off Golden Eagles’ junior Andrew Poole, 6-0, 6-1, and Jaguars’ junior Marlon Gichie, 6-1, 6-0.
“Everything just felt pretty good today,” Venus said. “The support was good. [Wins like these] just put a smile on everybody’s face and give us confidence going into the next few matches.”
Other singles winners for the Tigers included freshman Julien Gauthier and junior James Cluskey, both of whom won six-straight games to close out their matches against Southern Miss.
“I knew I was better than the guy, so I just kept fighting, and I knew I would come back and get the win,” Gauthier said.
Senior team captain Kevin Dessauer had a small scare in the second set of his singles match, falling behind 3-0 before rebounding to win, 6-1, 7-5, against Diego Machuca.
“That’s the difference between professional tennis and college tennis right there – the crowd can have an influence,” Dessauer said. “They helped me out when I struggled early, and I closed it out.”
—-Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]