Stanford, Calif. – With all eyes on the No. 5 singles court, LSU women’s tennis’ (16-10) Gaby Rivera completed a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory to clinch a 4-3 team win over the Baylor Bears (17-11) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Center.
The win marks the first NCAA Tournament win for the program since 2021 and head coach Taylor Fogleman’s first in charge of the Tigers.
Taylor’s Thoughts
“These ladies deserve a lot of credit today,” head coach Taylor Fogleman said. “We didn’t have the best start in doubles and singles, but the response they had to dig deep and handle those situations is the reason we got the win today. While you don’t want to be in those situations of adversity, we’re really proud in the way they fought through it to get the win.”
“Happy with the win, for our ladies and for what it means for the program. Now we’ll rest up and get ready to play a very good team in round two in either Stanford or Massachusetts. Tomorrow, we’ll need to be hitting on all cylinders from the first point, but we’ll go out there and get after it.”
Doubles Results
LSU struck first in doubles as the duo of Rivera and Maya Tahan earned a quick 6-2 win over Miska Kadleckova and Danielle Tuhten at the No. 2 spot. The win is the pair’s ninth of the spring playing together and brings their win streak up to five.
Baylor tied it up a few moments later when Liubox Kostenko and Sierra Berry took down the No. 52-ranked duo of Kenna Erickson and Anita Sahdiiea at the top court, 6-3.
The Tigers claimed the doubles point when Florentine Dekkers and Aran Teixidó Garcia grinded out a win over Isabella Harvison and Zuzanna Kubacha at the No.3 spot. The duo traded games back-and-forth, with the Baylor duo taking a 5-4 lead after nine games. LSU won the next one to tie it at 5-5 before splitting the next two to make it 6-6 and require a tiebreaker to decide it. The tiebreaker opened with even play, but the LSU duo pulled away and strung together consecutive points on their way to a 7-4 win to clinch the crucial doubles point and give LSU a 1-0 lead.
Singles Results
The Bears were the first to score singles point on the afternoon as Berry took down doubles-foe Erickson at the No. 6 spot. Berry took an early lead in set one and held off a charge from Erickson to win the set, 6-4. The second set saw Berry stay in control as she won 6-3 to get Baylor on the board.
The Tigers retook the lead after No. 110 Teixidó Garcia took down Harvison at the No. 2 spot in straight sets. Teixidó Garcia took an early lead in the first set and won, 6-2. The second set saw the Spaniard overcome a slow start and battle back as she narrowly won 6-4 to clinch her court. The win takes her singles tally up to 12 on the season, which is tied for the most on the team.
Baylor made it 2-2 in the match when Kostenko defeated Sahdiieva at the No. 3 court. The two players split ten games at 5-5 in the first set, with Kostenko winning the next two straight to take a 7-5 win. The second set was another close one, this time with the Baylor player coming from behind to narrowly win 6-4 and keep her team in the match.
In her fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and first as an LSU Tiger, Tahan showed her veteran experience and came from behind to defeat Kubacha at the No. 4 spot in three sets. Kubacha held off a charge from Tahan in the first set to win, 6-4, before Tahan flipped the script and only dropped two games in a 6-2 second set win to extend the match. The third set was a strong display of tennis from the Israel native, who stayed in control of the match as she won 6-3 and gave LSU a 3-2 lead on the day. The win was Tahan’s 11th this spring.
The match was tied at 3-3 after No. 95 Kadleckova defeated No. 101 Dekkers at the top spot in a ranked battle. The first set saw neither player able to stay on top of the other, splitting 12 games at 6-6 and requiring a tiebreaker to decide it. The tiebreaker went to Dekkers, who won the final four straight points to get a 7-4 win. The second set was another close one, but this time Kadleckova edged a 6-4 win and forced the match to go to a third set. The final had Kadleckova overturn an early deficit and finish strong to win 6-4 and score Baylor’s third point of the day.
The spot in the next round of the tournament came down to the No. 5 court, where Rivera faced doubles-foe Tuhten. Tuhten opened the match with her foot on the gas, taking an early lead and holding off Rivera’s comeback effort to win the first set, 6-4. The second set was a strong response from Rivera, who battled back with a 6-4 win of her own to extend the match to a decisive third set. The final set saw the LSU Tiger take an early lead and not look back as she clinched the match with a confident 6-3 win to send the Tigers on to the next round.
Up Next
LSU will face the winner of No. 2 Stanford and Massachusetts at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Follow Us
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program follow the Tigers on X/Twitter @lsuwten , on Instagram @LSUWTen , and on www.Facebook.com/lsuwten.
LSU vs. Baylor
May 3, 2024
NCAA Tournament – Round One
Stanford Regional – Taube Family Tennis Center
#32 LSU 4, #34 Baylor 3
Singles
1) #95 Miska Kadleckova (BAY) d. #101 Florentine Dekkers (LSU) 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4
2) #110 Aran Teixidó Garcia (LSU) d. Isabella Harvison (BAY) 6-2, 6-4
3) Liubov Kostenko (BAY) d. Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) 7-5, 6-4
4) Maya Tahan (LSU) d. Zuzanna Kubacha (BAY) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
5) Gaby Rivera (LSU) d. Danielle Tuhten (BAY) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
6) Sierra Berry (BAY) d. Kenna Erickson (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
1) Liubov Kostenko/Sierra Berry (BAY) d. #52 Kenna Erickson/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) 6-3
2) Gaby Rivera/Maya Tahan (LSU) d. Miska Kadleckova/Danielle Tuhten (BAY) 6-2
3) Florentine Dekkers/Aran Teixidó Garcia (LSU) d. Isabella Harvision/Zuzanna Kubacha (BAY) 7-6 (4)
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,2,3,4,1,5)
LSU 16-10
Baylor 17-11