Brace Named ITA National Rookie of the Year

BATON ROUGE, La. – Freshman Cadence Brace of the LSU Women’s Tennis team was named the National Rookie of the Year, as announced by the ITA on Friday morning.

In order to be considered for an ITA national award, an athlete must first be selected for a corresponding regional honor. The ITA uses regional award winners as the nominees for national recognition. Brace was named the Southern Region Rookie of the Year on June 10.

The national honor marks the first time in program history that a Tiger has been named the ITA National Rookie of the Year.

Hailing from Toronto, Brace collects another prestigious award to cap off her stellar freshman campaign. She was named the SEC Freshman of the Year while earning a first-team All-SEC nod, as well as featuring on the SEC All-Freshman team.

As a result of her final national rankings, No. 8 in singles and No. 6 in doubles, Brace became the fourth Tiger in program history to earn both singles and doubles All-American honors in the same season, joining Bruna Colosio (2000), Joana Valle Costa (2017), and Anastasiya Komar (2023).

Brace finished her season with a 14-6 singles record on the No. 1 court behind a team-leading 11 ranked wins. She also ended her season on a seven-match winning streak.

The Canadian native’s highlight victories include a result over Tennessee’s then-No. 5 Elza Tomase, 6-3, 6-1, in LSU’s 4-0 win over Tennessee. Brace also clinched the 4-3 comeback victory over South Carolina’s then-No. 19 Sarah Hamner in a thrilling 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) victory. Finally, the freshman earned a decisive point in LSU’s NCAA Super Regional match over Ohio State, defeating then-No. 22 Teah Chavez, 6-3, 7-6(6), to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead and set the stage for the clinching victory.

Beyond singles play, Brace forged a partnership with freshman Kayla Cross on the top doubles court to earn a No. 6 ranking, concluding the season with a 12-4 record, highlighted by nine ranked victories.

When the freshman duo took the court, they secured several standout victories, including a 6-2 result over UCLA’s then-No. 9 Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle in LSU’s 4-2 victory over the Bruins at the ITA National Indoor Championship. Next, they earned a 6-3 win over Georgia’s then-No. 13 Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco to help clinch the doubles point over the Bulldogs. In postseason play, the pair also took down USC’s then-No. 12 Lily Fairclough and Grace Piper, 6-3, at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.

For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow the Tigers on X @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.