Tulsa Women’s Tennis Team Opens NCAA Tournament Play Saturday Against #21 LSU

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Berkeley, Calif. – The 40^th-ranked Tulsa women's tennis team opens play at the 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships on Saturday against the No. 21-ranked LSU Tigers. Tulsa and LSU play at 11:00 a.m. (CT) at the Hellman Tennis Complex on the University of California campus, followed by the #13 California and San Jose State match at 2:00 p.m. (CT).
The first round winners will play in a second-round match on Sunday at 2 p.m. (CT) for the right to advance to the NCAA's round of 16 and beyond at the University of Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.

Tulsa is making its 11^th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, and 13^th overall, on Saturday and looks to advance to second round action for the sixth time in school history. Tulsa defeated Arkansas 4-1 in last year's first round before falling to eventual NCAA runner-up Oklahoma State in second round play.

"We're excited about continuing the legacy of playing in the NCAA tournament," said Tulsa Head Coach Dean Orford. "We're facing an extremely tough LSU team that is battle-tested by playing in the competitive SEC."

LSU (14-10, 6-7 SEC) is making its fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament. The Tigers defeated Columbia 4-0 in the first round of last year's tournament before falling to Virginia in the second round.

Tulsa will be going up against two top-40 players for the Tigers with No. 10-ranked Jade Lewis, a freshman, and #46 Joana Valle Costa. Tulsa's Ksenia Laskutova (17-13) and Rongrong Leenabanchong (23-9) lead the Hurricane at the top-2 singles positions.

The Hurricane has posted an overall 20-7 record this year, and finished second at the American Athletic Conference Tennis Championship on their way to securing an NCAA at-large bid. Tulsa defeated ranked opponents –– No. 13 Baylor and No. 30 Kansas –– this season, and won six straight dual matches from March 3-15, including a 4-2 victory over eventual AAC Champion USF.

Tulsa Women’s Tennis Team Opens NCAA Tournament Play Saturday Against #21 LSU

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Players Mentioned

Ksenia Laskutova

Rongrong Leenabanchong