Lady Vols Come Up Short at LSU, 4-3

Sunday, March 4

Baton Rouge, La.

1:00 PM

University of Tennessee

LSU

March 04, 2018 | Women's Tennis

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The 17th-ranked Tennessee women's tennis team dropped a hard-fought 4-3 match against LSU on Sunday afternoon.

The Lady Vols (12-2, 0-2 SEC) took an early lead with a strong showing in doubles and then winning the first court to finish in singles, but the Tigers were able to fight back and complete the comeback behind their three ranked players on the top three courts.

"We learned a lot this weekend from two tough teams," said head coach Alison Ojeda. "Getting where want to go takes time, and that's something I need to continue to remember and remind our players of. We can speed up the amount of time by practicing and preparing for excellence, which is what we are doing, but we need mental training that comes from match-play experience. That's something we can't hurry. We need to take advantage of every day we have the privilege of competing and remember that we are on the right track. We just have to stay with it. This weekend was all about growing pains. We will get where we want to go, but we just need to stay focused on the things we can control. Overall, I'm proud of the way we competed and look forward to our team's future."

In doubles, the freshmen duo of Tenika McGiffin and Chelsea Sawyer got things started for UT with an impressive 6-0 win over Luba Vasilyuk and Ashton Rabalais on Court 3. Sadie Hammond and Gabby Schuck gave Tennessee a 1-0 advantage with their 6-4 victory at the top spot against Ryann Foster and Kennan Johnson.

Staines earned her second win of the weekend and 10th in a row on the season in singles, breezing past Ashton Rabalais, 6-1, 6-0, to extend UT's lead to 2-0. Despite a 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory by Schuck, the Lady Vols couldn't hold off the Tigers' comeback.

Next weekend, Tennessee continues SEC play with a match against Georgia (March 10) before returning home for the first time in over a month to play South Carolina (March 16). For the most up-to-date information about the Tennessee women's tennis program, follow @Vol_WTennis on Twitter.

#43 LSU 4, #17 Tennessee 3
Singles
1. #102 Ryann Foster (LSU) def. Sadie Hammond (UT), 6-2, 6-3
2. #80 Jessica Golovin (LSU) def. Ariadna Riley (UT), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (2)
3. #105 Eden Richardson (LSU) def. Elizabeth Profit (UT), 6-4, 6-1
4. Gabby Schuck (UT) def. Kennan Johnson (LSU), 7-6 (1), 6-4
5. Luba Vasilyuk (LSU) def. Johanna Silva (UT), 7-6 (5), 6-4
6. Kaitlin Staines (UT) def. Ashton Rabalais (LSU), 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
1. Hammond/Schuck (UT) def. Ryann Foster/Kennan Johnson (LSU), 6-4
2. No. 56 Riley/Staines (UT) vs. Eden Richardson/Jessica Golovin (LSU), 4-5 unf.
3. Sawyer/McGiffin (UT) def. Luba Vasilyuk/Ashton Rabalais (LSU), 6-0

Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (6, 3, 1, 4, 5, 2)