LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis knew he was in for a challenge when he started the season.The Lady Tigers (4-9, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) had four members lose their eligibility last year and currently start a sophomore and three freshmen in their lineup.LSU snapped an eight-match losing streak last Friday against Mississippi State but regressed in a 7-0 loss Sunday against Ole Miss, much to the disappointment of Minnis.LSU will have a chance to redeem itself today as it hosts Tulane (8-4, 0-2 Conference USA) at 3 p.m. immediately followed by Grambling State in a non-conference doubleheader at W. T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium. “We’ve been establishing improvement over the course of the year, and I thought we took a step back [against Ole Miss], so hopefully we can re-establish that [today],” Minnis said.The Lady Tigers are in the midst of their most exhausting time of the spring dual season. Today’s matches will mark the fourth and fifth times they have played in the last six days.LSU assistant coach Lisa Jackson said the amount of matches in such a short period of time shouldn’t be an issue.”They’re all in shape,” she said. “I totally expect them to come out fiery and ready to go against Tulane.”Minnis voiced his frustration to his youngsters in a team meeting following the Ole Miss loss.”It’s unfortunate because you hate to learn lessons during the season, but … I think they did [Sunday],” he said.Tulane enters today with a 8-4 record, but the Green Wave are not in the same category as the competition the Lady Tigers have faced during the last month.
Seven of the last nine opponents LSU faced were ranked in the top 50, so facing Tulane and Grambling State is somewhat of a relief to Minnis.”When you’re playing the schedule where you’re playing as many ranked schools as we are, it makes it hard,” he said. “It’s not an excuse, but it’s just a fact.”LSU leads the all-time series against Tulane 28-4, but has lost each of its previous two matches with the Green Wave in 2004 and 2005, while LSU has swept its only two meetings with Grambling State, 7-0, in 2008 and 2009.—-Contact Sean Isabella [email protected]