BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU women’s tennis team (11-6, 3-4 SEC) marked their return to the LSU Tennis Complex on Friday night with a win as they took down the Kentucky Wildcats (7-8, 1-5 SEC) by a score of 5-2.
Taylor’s Thoughts
“A total team performance tonight,” head coach Taylor Fogleman said. “All six of our ladies scored points and it was a strong response after not the best weekend on the road last week. We haven’t had the easiest week with a few of the ladies nursing some nicks and bruises, but they really rallied tonight and I’m super proud of them for it. Now we’ll need to rest up and see what we can muster against a very solid Vanderbilt squad on Sunday.
Doubles Results
The Tigers struck first in doubles at the No. 3 spot, where Gaby Rivera and Maya Tahan took down Julia Zhu and Lidia Gonzalez. After a slow start for the Tigers, Rivera and Tahan came from behind and pulled away en route to a 6-3 win, their fourth win as a duo at the No. 3 court this season.
LSU clinched the doubles point and took a 1-0 lead in the match after Florentine Dekkers and Aran Teixidó Garcia defeated Ellie Eades and Zoe Hammond at the No. 2 court. It was a close match where the Wildcats led throughout, but the LSU Tigers finished strong and overturned the deficit to secure their 11th win at the No. 2 court this season.
Singles Results
Fresh off the clinch point in doubles, Teixidó Garcia secured the first singles point of the night with a straight set win at the No. 1 spot over Elizabeth Stevens. Teixidó Garcia blanked her foe in the first set, 6-0, and dropped only two games in the second in a 6-2 win. Individually, the Spaniard’s win was her 10th in dual matches this season and improved her overall record to a solid 15-4 dating back to the fall.
Anita Sahdiieva improved her singles record to 10-0 in the dual season and made it 3-0 in the match with a straight set win at the No. 3 court over Gonzalez. Sahdiieva blanked her foe, 6-0, to open the match and continued in the second with a 6-2 win to secure her court. Sahdiieva’s 10 singles wins in dual matches tied her with Teixidó Garcia for the most on the team.
The Tigers clinched the match at the No. 2 court, where Dekkers defeated doubles-foe Hammon in straight sets. Dekkers took the first set by a score of 6-3 and held off a charge from Hammond in the second as she won 6-4 to get LSU the crucial fourth point of the match. For Dekkers, it’s her fifth win of the dual season and her first in SEC play.
The remaining matches played out and LSU took a 5-0 lead on the night a few minutes later as Kenna Erickson earned a three-set win over Ellie Myers. Erickson opened the match on the attack and took a 6-2 lead in the first set. Myers battled back in the second set, winning 6-0 and forcing the match into a third set. The third and final set saw Erickson recover from her defeat in the second with a strong 6-2 win to take the court. The win was her sixth singles win of the season and her second in SEC play.
Kentucky earned its first point of the night at the No. 4 court, where Eades defeated Rivera. Rivera narrowly took the first set by a score of 6-4 before Eades battled back in the second set, going the distance and narrowly winning a tiebreaker, 7-3, to extend the match. The third set was played out to a ten-point tiebreaker since the team match was clinched and it saw Eades earn a 10-7 win to get her team on the board.
The Wildcats made it the final score of 5-2 on the night when Zhu defeated Tahan at the No. 5 spot. Zhu narrowly edged out a 6-4 win in the first set and split 12 games at 6-6 in the second, requiring a tiebreaker to decide it. The tiebreaker went to Zhu, who won the first six points on her way to a 7-1 win.
Up Next
LSU will take on No. 29 Vanderbilt at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday, March 24 inside the LSU Tennis Complex.
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LSU vs. Kentucky
Mar 22, 2024
LSU Tennis Complex
#40 LSU 5, #67 Kentucky 2
Singles
- Aran Teixido Garcia (LSU) def. Elizabeth Stevens (UK) 6-0, 6-2
- Florentine Dekkers (LSU) def. Zoe Hammond (UK) 6-3, 6-4
- Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) def. Lidia Gonzalez (UK) 6-0, 6-2
- Ellie Eades (UK) def. Gaby Rivera (LSU) 4-6, 7-6, 10-7
- Julia Zhu (UK) def. Maya Tahan (LSU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
- Kenna Erickson (LSU) def. Ellie Myers (UK) 6-2, 0-6, 6-2
Doubles
- Kenna Erickson/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) vs. Makayla Mills/Elizabeth Stevens (UK) 5-4, unfinished
- Florentine Dekkers/Aran Teixido Garcia (LSU) def. Ellie Eades/Zoe Hammond (UK) 6-4
- Gaby Rivera/Maya Tahan (LSU) def. Julia Zhu/Lidia Gonzalez (UK) 6-3
Match Notes:
Kentucky 7-8, 1-5 SEC; National ranking #67
LSU 11-6, 3-4 SEC; National ranking #40
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,3,2,6,4,5)
Official: Richie Weaver A-88