WACO, Texas — LSU’s women’s tennis team continues its historic season on Thursday when the No. 13 Tigers face fifth-ranked North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.
Doubles action begins at 1 p.m. CT with all action being streamed on ESPN+.
LSU reached the quarterfinals after upsetting No. 4 seed Ohio State, 4-2, last weekend in Columbus. The win over the Buckeyes sent the Tigers to program’s first quarterfinal appearance at the NCAA Championships. The win also marked the 24th of the season for the Tigers, tying the previous mark for team dual match wins previously set by the 1978 team. The 24 wins are the most for LSU in the NCAA era of women’s tennis.
The Bayou Bengals hold an overall record of 87-47 in singles and 51-21 in doubles, highlighted by 24 ranked singles wins and 13 ranked doubles victories. LSU has secured the doubles point in 23 of its 31 matches this season.
Cadence Brace continues contributing to 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 13 wins in the top spot, including 10 ranked victories. Brace is riding a six-match winning streak, extended with her most recent win over Ohio State’s No. 22 Teah Chavez, 6-3, 7-6 (6). The Canadian native holds an 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 12-3 record with a 9-2 mark over ranked pairs. The Canadian duo’s most recent ranked win came against Ohio State’s Alessia Cau and Teah Chavez, 6-4.
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 on May 3 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 19 singles wins, including 14 victories on the third court, and is riding a four-match winning streak. The Belgian standout has secured three 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 was the first court to finish against Ohio State as she downed No. 75 Sydni Ratliff, 6-4, 6-1.
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 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 15-5 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. 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. Meanwhile, Rivera holds an 8-4 record in singles play with an ITA ranking of No. 104. The senior clinched LSU’s 4-2 win over Ohio State as she posted a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 come-from-behind victory on Court No. 6.
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.
LSU holds one all-time win against North Carolina, with the teams’ last meeting taking place in 2016.
North Carolina, ranked No. 5 according to the ITA, holds a 26-4 overall record. Head Coach Brian Kalbas leads the Tar Heels in his 21st season at the helm. UNC is represented in the ITA singles rankings by No. 3 Reese Brantmeier, No. 24 Theadora Rabman, No. 43 Carson Tanguilig, and No. 63 Tatum Evans. In doubles, No. 2 Alanis Hamilton and Brantmeier, and No. 16 Susanna Maltby and Tanguilig lead the way.
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