As the sun set at W.T.”Dub” Robinson Stadium this afternoon, the spotlight shone bright on LSU senior Megan Falcon.Falcon’s grueling three-set victory gave the No. 24 LSU women’s tennis team a historic 4-3 victory over No. 16 Florida. The victory marked the first time the Lady Tigers defeated the Gators in program history.Falcon, who is ranked No. 17 in the country, battled cramps and fatigue in her 6-1, 7-5, 7-5 triumph against No. 8 Marrit Boonstra.”I’m just happy that people who came out were able to see how much heart [Megan] has,” said LSU women’s coach Tony Minnis.
Only one word came to mind when for Minnis when talking about his team’s performance.
“Incredible,” he said.Minnis said he was proud of the way his team came out to play after suffering back-to-back losses last weekend against then-No. 2 Georgia and then-No. 13 Tennessee.Falcon and Boonstra’s match lasted nearly three hours and included several stoppages of play to attend to both players’ ailing bodies.Boonstra served the match and game away for the Lady Gators. The sophomore double-faulted on the Lady Tigers’ fourth match point, securing the victory for LSU.Florida had the match in hand when Boonstra was up 5-4 in the third set, but was broken for the second time by Falcon.LSU started the day off claiming the doubles point when Falcon and senior Mykala Hedberg defeated Boonstra and Joana Mather, 8-4, and LSU junior Nicole
Kantor and senior Staten Spencer defeated Florida’s Brooke Allen and Barbara Pinterova, 8-2.On the men’s side, the Tigers lost at the No. 10 Gators, 5-2, for their third-straight loss.
The only two points for the Tigers came when No. 6 Michael Venus defeated No. 27 Carlos Cuento in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, and freshman Neal Skupski defeated Joey Burkhardt (6-2, 4-6, 7-5).The men continue their weekend road trip Sunday when they take on South Carolina.The women will host the Lady Gamecocks on Sunday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.
 
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