LSU
2009-2010 Season Review
Seniors Sloane Mathis, Hannah Robinson and Nicole Kantor with Coach Minnis and Jackson
Youth Movement Growing Pains
Head coach Tony Minnis knew his young Lady Tiger squad would take some early-season lumps last season. After Megan Falcon -- one of the greatest players in program history -- and standouts Mykala Hedberg and Staten Spencer wrapped up their collegiate careers in 2008-09, the program would be ushering in a youth movement in 2009-10 with three freshmen and a sophomore playing prominent roles. Seniors Nicole Kantor, Hannah Robinson and Sloane Mathis complemented the young lineup with their leadership and experience, and Kantor led the Lady Tiger upperclassmen in the fall. The St. Louis native won the main singles draw of the Hoosier Classic, advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Southern Regional Championships and represented the squad at the ITA All-American Championships. However, the coaches also saw promise out of the team’s youth. Gifted sophomore Whitney Wolf began to showcase her immense potential as she claimed her first tournament title at the Harvard Invitational and joined Kantor in the quarterfinals of the ITA Southern Regional. The Pride, La., native also led the squad with a 10-3 singles mark during
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2011 LSU WOMEN’S TENNIS
INTRO
the fall. Freshman Ebie Wilson earned a tournament title of her own, capturing the Flight ‘B’ championship at the Hoosier Classic. The Lady Tigers struggled in the first half of the spring season as the young underclassmen adjusted to their new roles in the lineup against top-flight competition. Wolf shouldered the responsibilities of facing the opponent’s top player out of the No. 1 singles slot for the first time in her career, while pairing with talented freshmen Keri Frankenberger and Kaitlin Burns in the team’s No. 1 doubles slot. Burns and Frankenberger took on the challenge of holding down the second, third and fourth slots of the singles lineup throughout the spring, and fellow freshman Wilson spent most of the spring season playing in the No. 5 position. After their slow start in the first 10 matches of the season, the Lady Tigers picked it up in mid-March and enjoyed a solid second half with eight of their 10 victories coming after March 12. In early April, the squad put together a string of three consecutive victories against SEC competition, prevailing over Auburn, Alabama and Kentucky. The Lady Tigers earned the No. 8 seed in the SEC Tournament and emerged victorious over No. 9
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Alabama in their first-round match before falling to top seed and eventual NCAA runner-up Florida.
Individual Highlights The development of sophomore Whitney Wolf and the freshmen tandem of Keri Frankenberger and Kaitlin Burns highlighted the team’s athletic success in 2009-10. Wolf took a big step forward from her freshman season as she not only welcomed the challenge of facing off against opponents’ top players, but delivered a team-best four victories versus nationally-ranked players. Wolf also earned a national singles ranking during the season and was a part of two separate doubles squads to be ranked during the season. Teaming with Frankenberger, Wolf helped lead the Lady Tigers with a 15-9 record, while she recorded a 4-6 mark with Burns. Frankenberger, who held a team-high winning percentage of .613 with a 19-12 singles mark, was named to the All-SEC Second Team, All-SEC Freshman Team and All-Louisiana First Team and was selected as the 2010 Louisiana Freshman of the Year. In addition, the Gainesville, Fla., native
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