Senior Day and LSU wrap up regular season

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 19th-ranked Razorback women’s tennis team concludes its regular season Saturday when they face the No. 57 LSU Tigers at the Billingsley Tennis Center at noon. The winner of tomorrow’s match will clinch second place in the SEC Western Division and also the six-seed of the SEC Tournament.

Arkansas (15-8, 5-5 SEC) comes off a weekend where they split matches against Kentucky and Vanderbilt and now must win against the Tigers to finish second in the division. If the Hogs do win, they will have finished in the top two of the division for four straight years. The winner of the match will earn the No. 6 seed and meet Auburn in the first round of the SEC Women’s Tennis Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn. The loser will get the No. 7 seed and play Kentucky in the first round.

The Tigers come into Saturday with an 11-11 record and 5-5 in the conference. Last weekend they split their home stand, losing against Vanderbilt, 7-0, and winning against Kentucky, 5-2. Ebie Wilson leads LSU’s singles play as she has tallied 12 victories this spring. Kaitlin Burns is tied for second on the team with nine wins including a thrilling three-set victory against Kentucky’s Khristina Blajkevitch last Sunday. In doubles, LSU brings the combo of Olivia Howlett and Ariel Morton, who were just recently paired together last weekend, but were able to score wins against both the Wildcats and the Commodores.

For the Razorbacks, senior Anouk Tigu continues to have a great second half of the season as she has won her last four matches and sits at 22-9 on the overall year and 12-6 in dual play. Her strong play has put her at 24th in the nation in singles according to ITA, but she is also part of the top doubles team with sophomore Claudine Paulson. Together, the tandem is ranked 28th in the nation and has 23-9 record on the year. In dual play alone, the team is 16-6 and winners of their last three.

Prior to Saturday’s match, the Razorbacks will honor Anouk Tigu as she has been with the program for the last four years and provided Arkansas with great tennis play that helped give the team multiple NCAA Tournament runs during her time as a player. First serve of the match is scheduled for high noon and Senior Day ceremonies will take place before the match begins.

Live stats will be available during the match as well as the live blog. For all information regarding the women’s tennis team, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.