BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 13 LSU Women’s Tennis travels to Columbus for a NCAA Super Regional matchup against No. 4 Ohio State on Friday, May 9, at 3:00 p.m. CT at the Auer Tennis Complex.
LSU’s Super Regional appearance marks the club’s first in 25 years and just the third in program history, joining previous trips in 1995 and 2000.
Last time out, the Tigers (23-7) hosted the Baton Rouge Regional from May 2-3 and took down Stephen F. Austin 4-0 in the first round, followed by a resounding 4-1 second round win over No. 18 USC to advance to the Sweet 16.
The Bayou Bengals hold an overall record of 83-46 in singles and 50-19 in doubles, highlighted by 20 ranked singles wins and 13 ranked doubles victories. LSU has secured the doubles point in 23 of its 30 matches this season.
Cadence Brace continues to contribute in her stellar freshman campaign after being named the SEC Freshman of the Year and earning first-team All-SEC and All-Freshman team honors. The Canadian native holds 12 wins in the top spot, including nine ranked victories. Brace is riding a five-match winning streak, extended with her most recent win on May 3 over USC’s No. 50 Grace Piper, 6-2, 6-2. The Canadian native holds an updated ITA ranking of No. 11 in singles.
Teaming up with fellow freshman Kayla Cross in doubles as one of the top duos in the country with a No. 5 ITA ranking, the freshmen have owned the top doubles spot for the Tigers, posting an 11-3 record with a 9-2 mark over ranked pairs. The Canadian duo’s most recent ranked win came against USC’s No. 12 Lily Fairclough and Piper, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point in the match.
Cross owns the second-highest ITA singles ranking on the team at No. 49 and was named to the All-SEC second team and All-Freshman team with Brace. In singles play, The Canadian owns a 11-2 mark on the No. 2 spot while also earning a victory on the top court against Ole Miss on Feb. 23. The freshman holds four ranked victories on the campaign, highlighted by a come-from-behind win over USC’s No. 81 Emma Charney, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, to clinch LSU’s 4-1 win.
Freshman Tilwith Di Girolami leads the team with 18 singles wins, including 13 victories on the third court, and is riding a three-match winning streak. The Belgian standout has secured two ranked wins this season, most notably on March 2, defeating Tennessee’s then-No. 69 Leyla Britez Risso, 6-2, 6-2. The freshman clinched the 4-2 dual match on March 7 over Alabama in a come-from-behind effort over Klara Milicevic, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Di Girolami has succeeded with senior Anita Sahdiieva on the No. 2 doubles courts, where the duo holds a No. 39 ranking. The pair carries a team-best 12-5 record, highlighted by a resounding 7-6 (12-10) tiebreaker victory over Tennessee’s Catherine Aulia and Britez Risso to clinch the doubles point in LSU’s eventual 4-0 win over the Volunteers. The duo’s most recent victory came on March 14 over Georgia’s ranked duo of then-No. 70 Guillermina Grant and Anastassia Lopata in a 6-0 sweep.
Beyond Di Girolami, Sahdiieva has teamed with sophomore Kenna Erickson to win their first match of the season against Vanderbilt on March 28, taking down the ranked pair of then-No. 14 Celia-Belle Mohr and Sophia Webster, 6-3. The pair holds an ITA ranking of No. 59 and owns a 4-1 record on the season. Sahdiieva has also excelled in singles, owning a 14-5 record on the season. The senior accounted for LSU’s lone point against Texas A&M on March 23 after earning a ranked victory over then-No. 80 Daria Smetannikov, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Most notably, Sahdiieva secured a clutch victory on March 16 over South Carolina’s Bella Larsson, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, leveling the dual match at 3-3 and setting the stage for LSU’s eventual 4-3 comeback win.
Rounding out doubles play, senior Gaby Rivera and Erickson have six wins at the third doubles spot, along with two additional wins on the No. 2 court against Tulane on Feb. 13 and over Southern on March 2. Rivera has also teamed with Di Girolami, holding a 4-3 record, with their most recent win coming against Oklahoma’s Ava Catanzarite and Gloriana Nahum, 6-1. Rivera also holds a 7-4 record in singles play with an ITA ranking of No. 104. Meanwhile, Erickson displays an 11-6 overall record with wins on the No. 3, 5, and 6 courts. The Texas native registered a 6-2, 6-1 result on March 30 over Missouri’s Sarah Hartel, with her most recent result, to clinch the match victory for LSU.
Sophomore Kinaa Graham carries three ranked victories on the season, highlighted by taking down then-No. 69 Marcela Lopez of Oklahoma State, 6-3, 6-0. Furthermore, after losing the doubles point to the Gamecocks, Graham jump-started LSU’s rally as the first singles match to finish, defeating a ranked opponent in then-No. 93 Misa Malkin, 6-2, 6-4. The Austin native holds six wins on the campaign, with her most recent result coming on Apr. 4 over Arkansas’s Anet Koskel, 6-2, 6-4, to clinch the match victory for LSU.
LSU holds a 3-1 all-time mark over Ohio State, with the teams’ last meeting taking place in 2012 when the Tigers earned a 4-2 victory.
Ohio State, ranked No. 4, owns a 23-3 overall record on the season and advanced to the Super Regionals with a 4-0 first round win over Buffalo and a 4-1 second round result against Notre Dame. Head Coach Melissa Schaub leads Ohio State in her 13th season with the program. The Buckeyes are represented in the ITA singles rankings by No. 9 Luciana Perry, No. 22 Teah Chavez, No. 75 Sydni Ratliff, No. 112 Audrey Spencer, and No. 116 Nao Nishino. In doubles, No. 22 Chavez and Perry, and No. 75 Nishino and Spencer lead the charge.
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