BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 8 LSU moved past Ole Miss, 5-2, to open SEC play Sunday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, La.
LSU improves to 9-1 and 1-0 in league play. Meanwhile, Ole Miss drops to 7-3 and 0-1 in conference play. The result marks LSU’s best start to a season since 2018, when the team also opened at 9-1.
Due to weather conditions, the dual match was moved to the indoor courts at the LSU Tennis Complex.
“Despite the weather forcing us indoors for our second home match of the season, today was a great environment to open SEC play,” said Head Coach Taylor Fogleman. “We had an incredibly supportive crowd that gave us a jolt of energy. The girls performed beautifully in doubles, and in singles, we were dominant on a few courts with opportunities to break the match open. However, that’s a testament to Ole Miss and their coaching staff. Head Coach Mark Beyers has led that program for 22 seasons, consistently competing at a high level. I’m very proud of our group and appreciate the support from our fans. Starting the SEC season with a win is a great feeling, but I know we have even more to give, which makes the potential of this group so exciting.”
No. 17 Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross opened the match in the top spot. The freshman pair delivered a strong performance against the Rebel’s top duo, No. 89 Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher and Ludmila Kareisova, securing a commanding 6-0 victory.
Closing out doubles play, Tilwith Di Girolami and Anita Sahdiieva, ranked No. 22, fought through Emily Welker and Brooklyn Olson. After exchanging games, with the set knotted at 2-2, the LSU duo found their rhythm, winning the final five games to claim a 6-2 set victory, awarding LSU its 10th doubles point of the season.
After helping secure the doubles point, No. 72 Di Girolami carried her momentum into singles play against Kareisova on the No. 2 spot. The Belgian dominated the first set with a 6-0 win. Di Girolami took a fast 2-0 lead in the next set; however, Kareisova cut into the lead to make it 2-1. The freshman would win the last four of five games to secure a 6-2 set win. Di Girolami improved her singles total to 7-2 on the season.
With LSU leading 2-0, No. 51 Cross faced Welker in the top singles spot. After an early 1-1 tie, Cross took control, winning five of the next six games to claim the first set 6-2. She fell behind 0-2 in the second but battled back to even the score at 3-3 before winning three straight games to secure a 6-3 victory. The Canadian’s win gave LSU a 3-0 match advantage and marked her first singles victory on the top court in her collegiate career.
In her first match on the day, Kinaa Graham battled against Alice Soulie on the No. 4 court. In the first set, Graham traded games with Soulie at 2-2, in which she took a 3-2 set lead. However, Soulie took control to win 6-3. Graham held another 3-2 lead in the following set before falling to Soulie 3-6. With the result, Ole Miss secured a singles point, making the overall match score 3-1 in favor of LSU.
Needing one more point to clinch the match, Kenna Erickson came out strong against Andrea Nova on the No. 6 court, racing to a 3-0 lead in the opening set before Nova won two straight games. Erickson quickly regained momentum, taking the final three games to secure a 6-2 first-set victory. Erickson took a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Nova eventually fought back to level the score at 3-3. Erickson took two consecutive games for a 5-3 advantage before Nova closed the gap to 5-4. Erickson stayed composed in a 40-40 set point to secure the 6-4 set win and clinch the 4-1 match win for LSU.
After LSU secured the dual match victory, the remaining matches continued to play out.
On Court 5, No. 121, Gaby Rivera faced off against Rachel Krzyzak in a back-and-forth affair. Rivera held narrow leads at 2-1 and 3-2 in the opening set, but Krzyzak responded each time before taking control to win the set 6-3. Rivera bounced back in the second, pulling ahead 2-1 and later extending her lead to 5-2 before closing out the set 6-3 to force a tiebreaker. In the decisive 10-point tiebreaker set, after trading games, Rivera led 5-4 before Krzyzak tied it at 5-5 and then edged ahead 6-5. Rivera fought to stay in it, but Krzyzak maintained the advantage, winning the tiebreaker 10-7 to bring the match score to 4-2.
Sahdiieva faced Lucie Petruzelova in the final match of the day on the third court. The senior controlled the opening set early, exchanging games before pulling away from a 2-2 tie to win four straight and secure a 6-2 set victory. The second set was much tighter, with Sahdiieva trailing 2-3 before rallying to tie it at 4-4. Petruzelova regained a 6-5 lead, but Sahdiieva forced a tiebreaker at 6-6, where she remained composed to win 7-6(4) and conclude the dual match at 5-2.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow the Tigers on X @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.
LSU vs. Ole Miss
Feb. 23, 2025
LSU Tennis Complex
No. 8 LSU 5, Ole Miss 2
Singles
1. #51 Kayla Cross (LSU) def. Emily Welker (OM) 6-2, 6-3
2. #72 Tilwith Di Girolami (LSU) def. Ludmila Kareisova (OM) 6-0, 6-2
3. Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) def. Lucie Petruzelova (OM) 6-2, 7-6(4)
4. Kinaa Graham (LSU) fell to Alice Soulie (OM) 3-6, 3-6
5. #121 Gaby Rivera (LSU) fell to Rachel Krzyzak (OM) 3-6, 6-3, 7-10
6. Kenna Erickson (LSU) def. Andrea Nova (OM) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
1. #17 Cadence Brace/Kayla Cross (LSU) def. #89 Anaelle Leclercq/Ludmila Kareisova (OM) 6-0
2. #22 Tilwith Di Girolami/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) def. Emily Welker/Brooklyn Olson (OM) 6-2
3. Kenna Erickson/Gaby Rivera (LSU) vs. Lucie Petruzelova/Andrea Nova (OM) 4-4, DNF
Match Notes:
LSU 9-1; National ranking #8
Ole Miss 7-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,1,4,6,5,3)
T-2:27