Sports

Foley pushes Fantilli, Cougars fall to LSU, 7-0

By Emily Davis
The Daily Cougar

The elements were all wrong for tennis this weekend. Cold, rain and wind kept the Cougars inside with the rest of the world and postponed Saturdayis game against Louisiana State. A glorious Monday afternoon asked one thing of the UH players -- tennis, anyone?

But the elements were still wrong as the Cougars fell to the Tigers 7-0, the second time they have been swept this season.

"LSU is a tough team," said sophomore Sarah Flood, who teamed with freshman Kami Miller in the No. 2 position to give UH its only doubles victory. "We love the opportunity to play ranked teams. It gives us a great challenge."

Flood and Miller responded well to that challenge. The pair came back from a 6-3 deficit to tie the match at 7-7 before LSUis Camila Caliari defaulted with a back injury, conceding the game to UH, 7-7 retired.

"We were down and fought back," Flood said. "We were getting gutsy at the end there because we didnit want to stop playing when (Caliari) got hurt."

Although the win is a reassuring one for Flood, who is now 3-2 on the season, losing the doubles point puts more stress on the team than head coach Jennifer Hyde wants.

"Doubles play is very important," said Hyde, whose team fell to 2-3 in dual matches. "Winning doubles gives us one less singles match we have to win and eases the pressure. With this young team, the less pressure the better."

Freshman Miranda Foley played at the No. 1 singles position and held off LSUis Rocio Fantilli in the first set and did not give up, even in the final moments of the third-set tie- breaker that ended the match 7-5, 6-3, 9-11.

With 17 regular-season games to play, Hyde said she wants to see her players become the team she knows they can be.

Freshman Sandra Blajer, who fell to LSUis Lauren Seaman 6-0, 6-1, has gone 2-3 this season and has Hyde excited about the rest of the season.

"Our confidence should always be up," Hyde said. "Losses need to, and will, just make us work harder."

This weekendis matches will require some of that hard work. The Cougars travel to Alabama to take on Alabama-Tuscaloosa on Saturday and face Conference USA rival Alabama-Birmingham on Sunday.

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