No. 9 LSU Travels to Battle No. 17 South Carolina, No. 1 Georgia
BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 9 LSU travels to Columbia to compete against No. 17 South Carolina on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 11:00 a.m. CT at the Carolina Tennis Center. Two days later, the Tigers head to Athens to face off with the top side in the country in Georgia at 1:00 p.m. CT.
According to the latest official ITA rankings (Feb. 25), LSU ranks No. 9 in the dual season team rankings.
Last time out, the Tigers opened SEC play against Ole Miss, suffering a 5-2 setback against the Rebels. Freshmen Carolina Kuhl and Addison Lanton earned singles victories in the match.
LSU holds a 7-2 record on the season and has clinched the doubles point in six of its matches. The Tigers own a 29-10 singles mark and a 14-8 doubles record.
As a result of the Tigers’ success at the ITA Kickoff Weekend, freshman Carolina Kuhl was named the SEC Freshman of the Week. Kuhl has registered a 6-2 start in singles play, highlighted by the clinching victory over UCLA’s Ahmani Guichard, 6-2, 7-6(0). The freshman also holds four doubles victories with two different partners.
The Tigers feature six ranked singles players in No. 51 Kayla Cross, No. 75 Cadence Brace, No. 96 Kinaa Graham, No. 107 Kenna Erickson, No. 114 Carolina Kuhl, and No. 115 Addison Lanton in the latest ITA rankings.
Furthermore, LSU holds three ranked doubles pairings in No. 40 Ella McDonald and Cross, No. 51 McDonald and Erickson, and No. 80 Alexia Marginean and Graham.
Cross picked up her first victory of the season against No. 18 UCLA in a 6-4, 6-3 result on the second court against Mayu Crossley. The sophomore also earned her first-ranked victory against NC State’s then-No. 36 Mia Slama, 6-4, 7-6(10).
Brace holds a 2-0 mark on the top spot, highlighted by the clinching victory over NC State’s then-No. 43 Gabriella Broadfoot, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
McDonald checks in with a 3-1 singles mark with a ranked victory against UCLA and three doubles wins on the season with Erickson. Likewise, Erickson has collected two singles victories on the third and fifth courts this season.
Against NC State, McDonald and Cross struck up a partnership to take down NC State’s then-No. 2 Broadfoot/Victoria Osuigwe, 7-6(6).
Lanton has had a strong start to her freshman campaign with a team-leading 7-0 mark behind victories on the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth courts.
South Carolina holds a 7-2 record this season, falling in its conference opener to Georgia. The Gamecocks hold a ranked singles player in No. 63 Kaitlyn Carnicella, and two ranked doubles pairings in No. 18 Lauren Friedman and Helena Buchwald, and No. 19 Carnicella and Anna Larsson. Kevin Epley leads South Carolina in his 13th season with the program.
Georgia posts a 6-1 mark to open the season, riding a five-match winning streak. The Bulldogs feature six times in the ITA singles rankings: No. 7 Aysegul Mert, No. 30 Anastasiia Gureva, No. 41 Deniz Dilek, No. 48 Anastasiia Lopata, No. 52 Sofia Rojas, and No. 91 Patricija Paukstyte. Furthermore, Georgia holds four ranked doubles pairings in No. 8 Dilek and Mert, No. 35 Emma Dong and Dilek, No. 46 Gureva and Mert, and No. 77 Lopata and Paukstyte. Head coach Drake Bernstein enters his third season with the program.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow the Tigers on X @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.