On a night to honor the seniors, the No. 20-ranked LSU women’s tennis team had its in-state win streak of 44 consecutive matches snapped after a 5-2 loss to No. 12 Tulane on Friday.
The Lady Tigers, (18-8, 6-5 SEC) had a streak broken that began against Tulane in 1994. The team has lost two consecutive matches, including a loss to Florida in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Before the match, the team honored seniors Bonnie White, Jessica Ferguson and Rocio Fantilli in a brief ceremony.
After winning 2-of-3 SEC Tournament matches, the Lady Tigers struggled against in-state rival Tulane, winning only one of its six singles matches.
Coach Tony Minnis said Tulane played well, but LSU was not at full strength.
“I give Tulane a lot of credit,” he said. “We played well but we were not quite as sharp as we have been. We need to get healthy. We’ve got some kids who are pretty banged up. But, when you play our type of schedule, that’s bound to happen. This team should be proud of what they’ve done.”
Heading into Friday’s singles matches, No. 67 sophomore Lauren Seamen boasted a nine-match win streak and Fantilli had won her previous four singles matches. Together, they have a four-match win streak in doubles and have the most overall wins against ranked doubles opponents this season for the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Tigers, who struggled throughout the match, outplayed Tulane in doubles matches.
The first match completed was the doubles pair of Fantilli and Seaman who beat Tulane’s Julie Smekodub and Darya Ivanov 8-4.
The Lady Tigers’ No. 2 doubles pair followed suit with Ferguson and Marina Chiarelli winning 8-5 and the No. 3 pair Amanda Mang and Daysi Espinal leading 7 –3 before their match was ended early.
Despite the teams’ consistent play in doubles, the team struggled against the Green Wave in the individual match-ups.
In No.1 singles, Ferguson defeated Maria Ivanov in straight-sets to give LSU its only win in singles play.
Fantilli, Mang and Espinal fell in straight sets in No. 2, No.3 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
For the seniors, this was their last match played at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
Ferguson, who began her LSU career with a 7-20 overall record, saved her best performance for her senior season. She won twice as many matches her second year as her first, compiling a 14-12 record in singles matches. In doubles play, she posted a 15-11 record, a team high for doubles this season.
White’s play has been limited during the past three seasons. Her career comes to a close with a 5-10 combined record. She finished 1-0 in singles matches and 2-1 in doubles this season, including a win against local rival Southern University in singles play.
Fantilli, who has the most experience as a Tiger, finishes her career with an overall record of 15-16 in singles and 10-14 in doubles this season. She began her career at LSU with an 8-14 overall record as a freshman and has improved every year since. In her sophomore season, she compiled a 16-22 overall record before posting a 16-20 overall record her junior season.
White, Ferguson and Fantilli look to end their college careers with a strong performance in the NCAA regional.
The Lady Tigers end their regular season with the teams’ largest win total since 1997. LSU will look to add to that number when regionals begin May 15.