LSU women’s tennis faced off against the best team in the SEC, No. 3 Georgia, where it played some solid tennis despite the low odds of a win.
However, the team ran out of steam and lost a few close sets that were incredibly important, ultimately getting finished off in a 0-4 sweep.
With Georgia having five ranked singles players in play, the doubles point was a massive one that the Tigers would likely need if they wanted to defeat the Bulldogs. And it actually seemed to be going there early on in the matches.
Taylor Bridges and Paris Corley didn’t just hold their own against the No. 37 duo; they held control of the entire match and at one point held a 5-1 lead. It would come down to the other courts for them to clinch the point though.
That’s where things went wrong for the Tigers.
Though No. 14 Eden Richardson and Nina Geissler came back on Court One, escaping a 0-3 deficit to even it up at 3-3, they couldn’t maintain that run and lost the next three games and the match. Court Three’s Tiger duo, Maggie Cubitt and Samantha Buyckx didn’t have any more success, losing 6-3 as well.
So, LSU would need to beat at least four players (three ranked ones) to win the match.
The Tigers fought extremely hard, with many players having some of their best action of the season, but it was clear from the beginning that it would take 100% and more to defeat Georgia.
Safiya Carrington and Paris Corley would be the first and second to fall respectively, with each of them losing in close, two-set matches. Each player had sets that were even at 5-5 before they choked the sets away.
Those would be the only matches to end in two sets. Bridges, Cubitt and Richardson all survived until their third sets, but they seemed to lose steam around that point.
Richardson and Bridges could not seem to get a win in their third sets, and with the Bulldogs only needing one more point to take down the Tigers, it was just a matter of time before LSU was finished off.
Bridges would ultimately be the one to drop it first, losing to arguably one of the best players in the country, No. 16 Katarina Jokic, by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 0-6. She had a brief resurgence in the second set that gave her the momentum, but Jokic quickly regained it as it seemed like Bridges ran out of gas.
Though the Tigers got swept, the match was similar to the loss against Ole Miss, where the match was clinched and finished before all of the courts were done. It’s hard to imagine LSU winning the three remaining matches, but it could have at least earned a point or two to make it look closer.
Though it was a strong match considering how dominant Georgia is in women’s tennis, it just wasn’t enough.
However, the team ran out of steam and lost a few close sets that were incredibly important, ultimately getting finished off in a 0-4 sweep.
With Georgia having five ranked singles players in play, the doubles point was a massive one that the Tigers would likely need if they wanted to defeat the Bulldogs. And it actually seemed to be going there early on in the matches.
Taylor Bridges and Paris Corley didn’t just hold their own against the No. 37 duo; they held control of the entire match and at one point held a 5-1 lead. It would come down to the other courts for them to clinch the point though.
That’s where things went wrong for the Tigers.
Though No. 14 Eden Richardson and Nina Geissler came back on Court One, escaping a 0-3 deficit to even it up at 3-3, they couldn’t maintain that run and lost the next three games and the match. Court Three’s Tiger duo, Maggie Cubitt and Samantha Buyckx didn’t have any more success, losing 6-3 as well.
So, LSU would need to beat at least four players (three ranked ones) to win the match.
The Tigers fought extremely hard, with many players having some of their best action of the season, but it was clear from the beginning that it would take 100% and more to defeat Georgia.
Safiya Carrington and Paris Corley would be the first and second to fall respectively, with each of them losing in close, two-set matches. Each player had sets that were even at 5-5 before they choked the sets away.
Those would be the only matches to end in two sets. Bridges, Cubitt and Richardson all survived until their third sets, but they seemed to lose steam around that point.
Richardson and Bridges could not seem to get a win in their third sets, and with the Bulldogs only needing one more point to take down the Tigers, it was just a matter of time before LSU was finished off.
Bridges would ultimately be the one to drop it first, losing to arguably one of the best players in the country, No. 16 Katarina Jokic, by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 0-6. She had a brief resurgence in the second set that gave her the momentum, but Jokic quickly regained it as it seemed like Bridges ran out of gas.
Though the Tigers got swept, the match was similar to the loss against Ole Miss, where the match was clinched and finished before all of the courts were done. It’s hard to imagine LSU winning the three remaining matches, but it could have at least earned a point or two to make it look closer.
Though it was a strong match considering how dominant Georgia is in women’s tennis, it just wasn’t enough.
