SAN DIEGO, Calif. – LSU Women’s Tennis won its 2025 season opener, downing San Diego, 5-2, at the Hogan Tennis Center.
LSU improves to 1-0, while San Diego falls to 0-1 on the season.
Taylor’s Thoughts
“Today’s result was a tough team win,” said Head Coach Taylor Fogleman. “San Diego is well coached and quite a difficult place to play, so I am happy that the ladies found a way to win. Putting three new people in the top three positions is never easy, but I thought everyone battled hard. We’ll learn much from the match today, making us better moving forward.”
Coach Fogleman added, “Now, we’ll turn our attention to a tough Santa Barbara team tomorrow and hopefully turn out an even better performance against their squad.”
Doubles Display
The match opened with doubles play, with Gaby Rivera and Kenna Erickson moving past Gabby Gregg and Kristina Nordikyan in a 6-0 sweep on the No. 3 spot.
The Bayou Bengals would clinch the doubles point after an impressive showing from the freshmen duo of Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross in their dual match debut on the No. 1 court, overpowering No. 38 Claudia de las Heras and Kailey Evans.
Singles Slate
Anita Sahdiieva earned the first single point for the Tigers on court No. 4. The senior only dropped one game in each set en route to a convincing 6-1, 6-1 victory over Anni Puls.
On the second court, Cross made her singles debut for LSU against No. 31 Kailey Evans, battling it out in an even first set, with Evans narrowly securing the 6-4 result. The freshman could not rally over Evans in the second set, falling 6-3, suffering her first collegiate defeat.
Freshman Tilwith Di Girolami made her singles debut and found herself in a competitive set. After a 10-game first set, the players were even at 5-5, in which Di Girolami would pull ahead and win 7-5. In the winning set, the Belgian held firm and secured a 6-4 result to push LSU ahead 3-1.
Kinaa Graham made her return to competition after her season-ending injury last February. In her return, she faced Hannah Read in a back-and-forth affair on the No. 5 court. In the opening set, Graham pulled ahead and took the first game, 6-3. However, Read would test Graham by taking the second set 6-2, evening it up against the sophomore, and facing a third set. In the deciding game, Graham overpowered her opponent 6-3 and secured the win for LSU, 4-1.
In the penultimate match, Rivera faced her doubles opponent, Gregg. The senior found herself trailing in the first set and lost 6-2. In the second set, Rivera gained momentum and never looked back, dropping one game in a 6-1 set win. In the final set, the athletes battled to a stalemate before Rivera pushed forward, taking the 6-4 set win in a come-from-behind effort to bolster the Tiger lead to 5-1.
Brace would round out singles play in another competitive matchup over her doubles opponent, de las Heras. Despite trailing early, Brace battled back and took the first set 7-6. San Diego’s ace on the top court would challenge Brace to another competitive set, edging the freshman to win 6-4. In the deciding 10-point tiebreaker set, Brace and de las Heras would remain evenly contested until a 9-9 score, where de las Heras would pull ahead and take an 11-9 result to win the match and end the dual contest at 5-2.
Up Next
LSU is back in action against UC Santa Barba on Saturday, Jan. 18, at 4:00 p.m. CT.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow the Tigers on Twitter @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.
LSU vs. San Diego
Jan. 17, 2025
Hogan Tennis Center
LSU 5, San Diego 2
Singles
1. Claudia de las Heras (USD-W) def. Cadence Brace (LSU) 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 11-9
2. #31 Kailey Evans (USD-W) def. Kayla Cross (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Tilwith Di Girolami (LSU) def. Kristina Nordikyan (USD-W) 7-5, 6-4
4. #125 Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) def. Anni Puls (USD-W) 6-1, 6-1
5. Kinaa Graham (LSU) def. #105 Hannah Read (USD-W) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
6. #120 Gaby Rivera (LSU) def. Gabby Gregg (USD-W) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
1. Cadence Brace/Kayla Cross (LSU) def. #38 Claudia de las Heras/Kailey Evans (USD-W) 6-2
2. Tilwith Di Girolami/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) def. Anni Puls/Hannah Read (USD-W) 4-2
3. Gaby Rivera/Kenna Erickson (LSU) def. Gabby Gregg/Kristina Nordikyan (USD-W) 6-0
Match Notes:
San Diego, 0-1
LSU 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,2,3,5,6,1)
Official: Mark Kasimatis