PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Senior Skylar Kuykendall dropped the opening set of both matches Tuesday but fought back to take the following two sets in wins over Ohio State’s Gabriella De Santis and Baylor’s Kiah Generette to advance to the second day of ITA All-American qualifying at the Riviera Tennis Club.
In the opening round of qualifying, Kuykendall was down to her final game against DeSantis. The veteran fought back to win 11 of the next 12 games in route to a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory.
“Skylar had two great comeback wins today,” co-head coach Julia Sell said. “It wasn’t her best tennis, but she kept competing hard and finding a way to get back in the game.
After getting the three-set thriller over De Santis, Kuykendall returned to the courts in the afternoon to face off against Generette. The Lady Tiger continued to show fight after dropping the first set and defeated Generette 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to competition on Wednesday.
Kuykendall returns to action tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. CT against Pepperdine’s Luisa Stefani. Stefani opened up play Tuesday with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Yuliya Shupenia of DePaul. The freshman advanced to the second day of competition with a victory over Georgia’s Kennedy Shaffer.
Results of the ITA Alll-American will be available online on Twitter @lsuwten and @LSUJuliaSell, on Instagram @LSUWTen and on www.Facebook.com/lsuwten.