BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU women’s tennis team (5-1) will return to action after a week break with a home-and-away weekend beginning on Friday afternoon. The Tigers will host South Florida (4-3) at 3 p.m. CT on Friday at the LSU Tennis Complex before heading to Dallas, Texas to take on SMU (2-4) at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday morning at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Center.
Attendance to all LSU matches at the LSU Tennis Complex is free of charge. Attendees will be required to comply with the clear-bag policy held by the university.
South Florida (Feb. 16)
@ SMU (Feb. 18)
Live Stats | Live Video
Notes on South Florida
Friday’s match will be the 10th time that LSU and South Florida meet in dual competitions, with the Tigers holding a 6-3 lead in the series history. The teams last met in 2019 in Tampa, Florida, where LSU earned a 6-1 win in both teams’ season opener.
The Bulls have a 4-3 record entering Friday’s matchup, earning wins against Florida Gulf Coast, UNF, Stetson and North Texas while dropping matches to No. 4 Georgia, Arizona and FAU.
Singles play has been a strength for the Bulls this season. They’re led by Gargi Pawar, who has posted a 5-1 record in dual matches playing at the No. 5&6 courts. Three players, Marta Falceto Font, Grace Schumacher and Melisa Senli each have four wins, with Senli having a perfect 4-0 record playing at the No. 2&3 courts.
Notes on SMU
LSU holds a 19-4 lead in the series against SMU, including the past four straight meetings. The teams last met in 2021 in Dallas, where the visiting Tigers secured a 4-1 win.
The Mustangs have a 2-4 record entering the weekend, but a strong strength of schedule to pair alongside it. The two wins came against No. 17 Vanderbilt in a 4-3 match and a 4-0 win at UTA and features defeats to No. 15 Duke, No. 9 NC State, Florida State and Baylor.
Last Time Out
The Tigers were last in action early last week where the Tigers defeated Rice by a score of 4-1 on Sunday, February 4 before taking down Tulane, 6-1, the following day. The match against Rice saw LSU take the doubles point and had straight set singles wins from Maya Tahan, Kenna Erickson and Aran Teixidó Garcia get the Tigers a 4-1 win on the day.
The LSU Tennis Complex saw action the following night as Tulane came up from New Orleans. LSU took the doubles point and had singles wins from Tahan, Erickson, Teixidó Garcia, Anita Sahdiieva and Florentine Dekkers to earn an emphatic 6-1 win over the visiting Green Waves.
Tiger Tidbits
Doubles play has been a strong point for the Tigers this season as they’ve taken five out of six doubles points thus far this season. The team’s cumulative record across all three courts comes out to a 12-4 record, with Aran Teixidó Garcia and Florentine Dekkers leading the Tigers with a 5-1 record at the No. 2 spot.
Teixidó Garcia has had a tremendous singles start to the dual season in addition to her doubles success, tallying a 5-0 record playing primarily at the No. 3 court. Garcia has won all five singles matches in straight sets and has scored a point in every LSU victory thus far this season.
Anita Sahdiieva boasts a 4-0 record playing primarily at the No. 4 court for the Tigers. The junior from Ukraine has hit the ground running in her LSU career, earning strong singles wins while also boasting a 4-1 doubles record at the No. 1 doubles court alongside Kinaa Graham.
Freshman Kenna Erickson has enjoyed a strong start to her collegiate career after joining up with the team in January. She’s earned three singles wins at the No. 6 court and has struck a strong partnership with graduate student Maya Tahan in doubles, earning three wins at the No. 3 court together.
Follow Us
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program follow the Tigers on Twitter @lsuwten , on Instagram @LSUWTen , and on www.Facebook.com/lsuwten.