Clemson Falls to LSU in ITA Kick-Off Weekend Opener Friday

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson women’s tennis team fell to LSU 4-0 on Friday afternoon in their ITA Kick-Off Weekend opener in Tallahassee, Fla. With the loss, the ACC Tigers drop to 4-1 on the season, while the SEC Tigers improve to 2-0.

LSU won the doubles point, as its 30^th-ranked duo of Taylor Bridges and Paris Corley defeated Clemson’s Sydney Riley and Tate Schroeder 6-2 at No. 2. Then, LSU’s Jessica Golovin and Eden Richardson, ranked ninth nationally, defeated Clemson’s third-ranked duo of Marie-Alexandre Leduc and Fernanda Navarro 6-3 at No. 1 doubles.

In singles play, LSU won in straight sets at No. 5, 4 and 3 singles, in that order, to clinch the 4-0 victory. After dropping their first sets, Leduc at No. 1, Navarro at No. 2 and Laura Marti at No. 6, were all in the midst of close second sets when play was abandoned.

HEAD COACH NANCY HARRIS QUOTE
“Today was especially tough for everyone. Our team fought hard in singles play. In doubles, we just gave too many points away to give ourselves a chance to win. Tomorrow is a new day and we will need to use the lessons learned today to win against the No. 1 seed Florida State, which was upset by Tennessee following our match this afternoon.”

OF NOTE

• Leduc and Navarro’s loss ended a 12-match winning streak for the pair, as they previously won three straight to win the Flight 1 doubles title at the Roberta Alison Fall Classic in October, went 5-0 to win the National Championship at the Oracle ITA Fall National Championships in November, and then opened the spring with a 4-0 record on Jan. 18 and 20.
• Leduc played well against the nation’s 13^th-ranked singles player, Eden Richardson, at No. 1 singles. She was trailing 7-5, 3-2 when the match was halted.

UP NEXT
Clemson faces the non-advancing team in the Friday evening contest between Florida State and Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. at the FSU Indoor Tennis Facility in Tallahassee, Fla.