Playing the bulk of the season between No. 4 and No. 6 singles, sophomore Lauren Seaman is not likely to receive Southeastern Conference Player of the Week accolades like other players who are more easily recognized at No. 1 singles. But coach Tony Minnis said Seaman’s value to the team is not overlooked by anyone associated with the team.
“She is invaluable,” Minnis said. “She’s done a tremendous job this year. For her to make the improvement she’s made is incredible. The thing about her is she’s so hungry and she wants it so bad. She has been a pleasure to work with.”
Part of Seaman’s improvement has been adjusting from high school, where she won four state titles and lost two matches, to playing tennis in the SEC.
“I would say there is a very big difference between high school and SEC tennis,” Seaman said. “Division I tennis is tough but the SEC is on another level.”
Seaman’s SEC season did not begin on a high note. She started 2-3 in her first five SEC singles matches.
“I would say gaining experience and feeling more confident in myself helped me on the court,” Seaman said. “With more match play, I learned how to compete better on the court, and I have also been working really hard off the court.”
But Minnis said the important thing was that Seaman was able to look past her conference start.
“She’s played some real good teams,” Minnis said. “The biggest thing you have to do as a coach and player is look at the big picture, because you’re not going to play well the whole season, especially with the number of Top 30 teams we’ve played this season.”
Seaman was able to look past her sub.-500 conference start, beginning with LSU’s 4-3 win over Ole Miss. Seaman has been unbeaten in her last 10 matches, including three clinchers over top-ranked opponents.
“She’s contributed so much,” Minnis said. “She’s clinched matches over Kentucky, Florida State and Tennessee, and those are teams in the Top 30.”
Seaman said she relishes playing when the game is on the line.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Seaman said. “Right when the match was over and my teammates rushed the court I was crying. You know that it’s all up to you. It’s a great feeling when you can win it, after seeing how hard your teammates played earlier to get to that point.”
The Lady Tigers were able to count on another victory from Seaman as they faced defending national champion Florida in the semifinals on Saturday, despite losing 4-1.
“It’s hard to take that loss to Florida,” Seaman said. “But we fought a tough battle. With the way that we were able to play against the No. 2 team in the country, I think we just realized how good we are. In the beginning of the season we originally said we wanted to qualify for the Sweet 16, and that was before we accomplished so much of what we did this season, but most importantly we want to take things one step at a time.”
Seaman said she is not thinking about her team’s prospects in the NCAA Championships, because this weekend’s match against Tulane means so much to her.
“I’m excited to play,” Seaman said. “Being from New Orleans, I know how important the Tulane-LSU rivalry is.”