Four Women's Tennis Members Set to Shine at ITA All-American Championships
CARY, N.C. – Four LSU Women’s Tennis athletes begin their fall campaign on a Cary, North Carolina, trip to compete in the ITA All-American Championships. The tournament will begin Sept. 21 and run through Sept. 29.
The tournament, with a rich history dating back to 1983, brings together some of the top athletes in the sport to compete. This year’s event will be held at Cary Tennis Park, with pre-qualifiers starting on Sept. 21-22, followed by the qualifying rounds on Sept. 23-24. The championships will take place from Sept. 25-29.
LSU sends seniors Florentine Dekkers, Gaby Rivera, Anita Sahdiieva, and sophomore Kenna Erickson to compete.
Dekkers competed in the tournament last year, winning two singles and doubles matches. In her debut season with the Tigers, the Dutch native took on a prominent role, winning five singles and doubles matches in the preceding fall season. She was ranked No. 125 in the final ITA singles rankings for the past season and begins the 2024 season with a singles preseason ranking of No. 66, also sharing a No. 70 doubles ranking with Rivera.
In the other half of the ranked pairing, Rivera enters her first ITA All-American Championships with LSU—the fifth-year senior looks to claim glory in her first fall term with the Bayou Bengals. After transferring in the prior spring season, she racked up seven singles and nine double victories. Rivera was crucial in propelling LSU to its first NCAA Tournament win since 2021 in a come-from-behind win over No. 34 Baylor.
Building on their success in previous doubles pairings, the new team of Rivera and Dekkers continues their pursuit of gold. Dekkers earned wins with two partners: two with Kinaa Graham and 15 with recent graduate Aran Teixidó Garcia. Meanwhile, Rivera succeeded with the outgoing Maya Tahan, securing nine victories.
Sahdiieva, a Ukrainian native, enters the season after capturing four singles and doubles victories in the last fall season. Over the term, Sahdiieva achieved 11 doubles wins at the top spot, partnering with two different freshman players. Notably, she secured four victories against ranked opponents alongside Kenna Erickson.
After Erickson’s impressive debut season, which included being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and the ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year, the freshman wasted no time demonstrating her potential. Joining the program in January, she earned 10 singles and doubles wins, highlighted by wins at the No. 6 spot against No. 14 South Carolina, the program’s first Top 25 win since 2021.
The returning duo of Sahdiieva and Erickson hold the program’s highest preseason ranking with a No. 10 designation. The LSU pair captured seven wins playing at the No. 1 spot. Also, they are regarded as the only members to score a singles/doubles point in each SEC win. According to the ITA, they finished the season with a No. 67 doubles ranking.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow the Tigers on Twitter @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.