April 8, 2007
AUBURN -
The Auburn women's tennis team (10-8, 4-6 SEC) came up one victory short on Sunday in a 4-3 loss to LSU (13-7, 5-5 SEC) at the Auburn Intramural Tennis Facility.
"We are disappointed that we lost," head coach Tim Gray said. "But at the same time it shows how far this program has come, because today's match really meant something."
Things did not start out well for the orange and blue, as they dropped each of the three doubles matches, and with it, the doubles point. Kelly Adams and Fani Chifchieva dropped their match, 8-3 on court two, followed by the 14th ranked duo of Alex Haney and Melissa Koning, who lost 8-6. Fani Chifchieva and Whitney Chappell put up a good fight, but came up short, 8-3 at the No. 3 spot.
Down 1-0, Haney began the Auburn comeback. She made quick work of Mykayla Hedburg, blasting her 6-1, 6-2 for her 16th win of the year. On court one, No. 27 Fani Chifchieva had some tough breaks go against her, as she fell to No. 3 Megan Falcon, 6-4, 6-4. On court six, Heather Bybee was defeated by Anastasiya Dubova, 6-2, 6-2 to give LSU a 3-1 lead.
Auburn would not go down, however, as Chappell put her team within one with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Hannah Robinson at the No. 4 spot. With two matches left to play, AU needed to win both to earn the win.
After Hastenrath took the opening set, 6-2, Staten Spencer of LSU battled back to even it at one apiece with a 6-2 win of her own. Tied at three in the third, Spencer won three in a row to take the set, 6-3 and give LSU the team win. Despite the team loss, Koning continued to battle, and came away with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over Nicole Kantor at the No. 3 spot.
With the loss, Auburn trails LSU by one in the SEC West standings with just one conference game left to play.
Auburn will wrap up its home schedule on Thursday as they host South Alabama at 3 p.m. at the Auburn Intramural Tennis Facility. Admission is free.
#39 LSU 4, #36 Auburn 3
Singles competition
1. #3 Megan Falcon (LSU) def. #27 Fani Chifchieva (AU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Alex Haney (AU) def. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Melissa Koning (AU) def. Nicole Kantor (LSU) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
4. Whitney Chappell (AU) def. Hannah Robinson (LSU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Jil Hastenrath (AU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
6. Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) def. Heather Bybee (AU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #42 Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) def. #14 Alex Haney/Melissa Koning (AU) 8-6
2. Hannah Robinson/Anastasiya Dubova (LSU) def. Kelly Adams/Fani Chifchieva (AU) 8-3
3. Nicole Kantor/Staten Spencer (LSU) def. Whitney Chappell/Jil Hastenrath (AU) 8-3
Match Notes:
LSU 13-7, 5-5 SEC; National ranking #39
Auburn 10-8, 4-6 SEC; National ranking #36
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,6,4,5,3)