BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 10 LSU started out in front but were unable to secure the result as they fell to No. 8 Oklahoma, 4-1, on Sunday at the LSU Tennis Complex.
LSU drops to 19-5 overall and 9-4 in the SEC, while Oklahoma moves to 16-5 and 9-4 in the conference.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to get a result on our Senior Day, but a huge credit to Oklahoma for their performance today,” said Head Coach Taylor Fogleman. “I thought we played one of our better doubles points of the year, frankly, and more dominant in every facet. In singles, it was a tale of two tapes as Oklahoma quickly flipped the momentum. Initially, we competed well with some good performances, but ultimately, we had too many setbacks to overcome. But credit to Oklahoma, they have a great program. We’ll learn a lot from today to be better when we hit the road next week to go to Florida and Auburn.
When speaking about the Senior Day festivities, he added, “We want to give a huge shout-out to our three seniors, Florentine Dekkers, Gaby Rivera, and Anita Sahdiieva. They have been instrumental in so many different facets of helping this program. I hope it was a wonderful celebration of their careers here and what they’ve meant to the program. However, we certainly have more tennis to play moving forward, so we’ll rest, recover, and get ready to tackle another road trip in the SEC.”
Tilwith Di Girolami and Rivera began doubles play against Ava Catanzarite and Gloriana Nahum on Court No. 3. The LSU pair jumped to a 4-0 lead in the lone set. Though Catanzarite and Nahum stole a game, Di Girolami and Rivera closed the set with a 6-1 win. The LSU duo now holds a three-match winning streak.
The No. 7 duo of Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross teamed for the first time since March 23 against Texas A&M, battling with Oklahoma’s No. 84 pairing of Julia Garcia Ruiz and Alina Shcherbinina on the top spot. The freshmen duo captured the first two games before Garcia Ruiz and Shcherbinina cut the LSU lead to 2-1. Afterward, Brace and Cross went on a streak to take a 5-1 advantage. Despite Oklahoma attempting a rally, the freshmen held firm and secured the set 6-3, earning their 10th win as a pairing and clinching the doubles point for LSU.
Di Girolami opened singles play on the second spot over No. 19 Garcia Ruiz. The freshman trailed 3-1, then dropped the first set 6-1. She fell behind 2-0 in the second and attempted to rally by taking a game at 2-1, but ultimately lost the set 6-1, tying the dual match at 1-1.
Kenna Erickson competed on Court No. 5 against Catanzarite. Erickson fought early in the set after trailing 2-1 but could not recover, dropping the opening set 6-1. In the second, the sophomore fell behind 3-0 but closed the gap to 3-2, then 5-3, but ultimately lost 3-6, giving Oklahoma a 2-1 lead.
After the Tigers fell behind in the match, Kinaa Graham faced No. 51 Emma Staker on the fourth court. Graham trailed 2-1 at the beginning of the set. She was able to take a game but later lost the set 6-2. In the second, Graham led 1-0 before Staker took a 5-1 lead, eventually downing the LSU sophomore 6-2 and increasing Oklahoma’s advantage to 3-1.
Needing a battle to kickstart a rally, Sahdiieva challenged No. 121 Salakthip Ounmuang on Court No. 3. Starting the opening set with a 1-1 tie, Sahdiieva fell behind 5-1, fought back to 5-4, but dropped the set 6-4. In the following set, the senior traded leads with Ounmuang with three lead changes and ties until Sahdiieva forced a seven-point tie-breaker. In the tie-breaker, Sahdiieva held a 3-2 lead but ultimately lost 7-4, giving Ounmuang the 7-6(4) win, clinching the match for Oklahoma.
LSU concludes its regular season on the road, starting with a trip to Gainesville against Florida on Friday, Apr. 11, at 4:00 p.m. CT. Two days later, LSU wraps up the regular season against Auburn at the Yarbrough Tennis Center at noon CT.
For more information on the LSU Women’s Tennis program, follow the Tigers on X @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.
LSU vs. Oklahoma
April 6, 2025
LSU Tennis Complex
No. 10 LSU 1, No. 8 Oklahoma 4
Singles
1. #24 Cadence Brace (LSU) vs. #31 Alina Shcherbinina (OU) 4-6, 6-3, 2-1, DNF
2. Tilwith Di Girolami (LSU fell to #19 Julia Garcia Ruiz (OU) ) 1-6, 1-6,
3. Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) fell to #121 Salakthip Ounmuang (OU) 4-6, 6-7 (4-7)
4. Kinaa Graham (LSU) fell to Emma Staker (OU) 2-6, 2-6
5. Kenna Erickson (LSU) fell to Ava Catanzarite (OU) 1-6, 3-6
6. Gaby Rivera (LSU) vs. Gloriana Nahum (OU) 7-6, 2-6, 0-1, DNF
Doubles
1. Cadence Brace/Kayla Cross (LSU) def. Julia Garcia Ruiz/Alina Shcherbinina (OU) 6-3
2. Kenna Erickson/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) vs. Salakthip Ounmuang/Chloe Noel (OU) 5-2, DNF
3. Tilwith Di Girolami/Gaby Rivera (LSU) def. Ava Catanzarite/Gloriana Nahum (OU) 6-1
Match Notes:
LSU 19-5 (9-4 SEC); National ranking #10
Oklahoma 16-5 (9-4 SEC)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,5,4,3)
T-1:45