BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 5 LSU women’s tennis team secured its third consecutive sweep of the season with a 4–0 victory over Marshall on Saturday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex.
LSU improves to 3-0 while Marshall drops to 2-1 on the season. The Tigers now hold three consecutive sweeps to open the season since 2021.
“The ladies performed well today,” said head coach Taylor Fogleman. “I give a lot of credit to Marshall and head coach John Mercer for the effort today. Their team certainly challenged us throughout the match and made us earn the victory. In both doubles and singles, I thought we did some things well, undoubtedly. Still, there are a lot of things that we will have to clean up before tomorrow if we want to secure the result against one of the most storied programs of collegiate women’s tennis in UCLA.”
When asked about the championship match tomorrow, Coach Fogleman added, “We are excited for the challenge against UCLA, and they are a program that’s coached extremely well. We hope to get a great crowd out to support our ladies, and I know they are looking forward to the opportunity ahead of them.”
Carolina Kuhl and Addison Lanton opened doubles play on the third spot against Thalia Smith and Nour El Ouazzani. After consecutive ties and falling behind 2-1 and later 3-2 in the lone set, Kuhl and Lanton captured the final four games to post a 6-3 set win.
Kenna Erickson and Ella McDonald looked to clinch the doubles point on the second court over Sarah Copley and Johanna Strom. Erickson and McDonald continued their hot start to the season, jumping to a 4-0 lead. Despite dropping a game afterward, the LSU pair would later close out the set with a 6-2 win to give LSU a 1-0 match lead.
After LSU earned the doubles point, Florentine Dekkers opened singles play in the sixth spot against Paula Berzina. Dekkers suffered an early setback as Berzina took a quick 3-0 lead. The Graduate Student would rally and capture an impressive six straight games to earn a 6-3 set victory. In the following set, after dropping the first game, Dekkers won six consecutive games to earn a 6-1 result and lift the Tigers to a 2-0 advantage.
Kuhl was next up for the Tigers as she battled doubles foe El Ouazzani on Court No. 4. After a 2-2 stalemate in the opening set, Kuhl found her form, earning a 6-2 first-set result followed by a dominant 6-0 sweep in the following set to give LSU a 3-0 lead.
In a position to clinch the match victory, Ella McDonald took on Alina Mokrynska on the third court. McDonald jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the opening set. Mokrynska stole a game, but the England native would earn a 6-1 set victory. In the second set, McDonald battled to a 1-1 then 2-2 tie before breaking away for a 6-2 set win to clinch the 4-0 match result for the Tigers.
Up Next
LSU matches up with No. 18 UCLA in the championship match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Sunday, Jan. 25, at noon CT at the LSU Tennis Complex.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow the Tigers on X @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.
Marshall vs LSU
Jan 24, 2026 at Baton Rouge, LA
LSU Tennis Complex
#5 LSU 4, Marshall 0
Singles competition
1. Cadence Brace (LSU) vs. Johanna Strom (MARSH) 5-5, unfinished
2. Kayla Cross (LSU) vs. Polina Gumeniuk (MARSH) 7-6 (7-3), 1-1, unfinished
3. Ella McDonald (LSU) def. Alina Mokrynska (MARSH) 6-1, 6-2
4. Carolina Kuhl (LSU) def. Nour El Ouazzani (MARSH) 6-2, 6-0
5. #78 Addison Lanton (LSU) vs. Thalia Smith (MARSH) 6-3, 3-2, unfinished
6. Florentine Dekkers (LSU) def. Paula Berzina (MARSH) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Cadence Brace/Kayla Cross (LSU) vs. Alina Mokrynska/Polina Gumeniuk (MARSH) 3-5, unfinished
2. Kenna Erickson/Ella McDonald (LSU) def. Sarah Copley/Johanna Strom (MARSH) 6-2
3. Carolina Kuhl/Addison Lanton (LSU) def. Thalia Smith/Nour El Ouazzani (MARSH) 6-3
Match Notes:
LSU 3-0; National ranking #5
Marshall 2-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,4,3)
Official: Richie Weaver