BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 4 LSU women’s tennis team dropped a 4-2 SEC contest to No. 5 Auburn on Saturday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex.
LSU drops to 9-4 and 2-3 in the conference while Auburn moves to 21-1 and 5-0 in SEC play.
“Huge credit to the people that came out to the match today, especially with the weather delay and hanging in there with us,” said head coach Taylor Fogleman. “Obviously, we wish we had given them the result we were all hoping for. Credit to Auburn. They definitely came out a bit more ready in the doubles. I think we had chances when it came down to it to get our nose ahead in that aspect, but we didn’t get off to the start we needed. In singles, we ended up winning four first sets, so the momentum certainly swung in our favor, but Auburn just played a little bit better when the chips were down. It’s definitely frustrating, but also encouraging because we know what we’re capable of when we do things the right way from both a tennis and mental standpoint. I have no doubt this group will learn from this and be better because of it. But again, huge credit to Auburn. They’ve had a great year, and they have a great team.”
No. 9 Kayla Cross and Ella McDonald began the dual match on the top doubles spot against No. 14 DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito. The LSU pair struggled early and couldn’t rally, dropping the lone set 6-1.
Addison Lanton and Alexia Marginean were next on the third court against No. 83 Ashton Bowers and Ekaterina Khayrutdinova. After dropping the first game, Lanton and Marginean jumped to a 3-1 and a later 4-2 lead before Bowers and Khayrutdinova took the final four games to down the LSU pair 6-4 to give Auburn the doubles point.
No. 120 Kinaa Graham opened singles play with No. 31 Esposito on court No. 6. Graham trailed 2-1 but jumped ahead to a 3-2 lead. Esposito would attempt to rally but was denied by the junior, securing the 6-3 set win. Graham kept her foot on the gas in the second set by only dropping one game en route to a 6-1 set win to tie the dual match at 1-1.
Carolina Kuhl faced Merna Refaat on the fourth court. Kuhl opened the match with a 2-0 lead before Refaat responded to eventually level the set at 3-3. The Auburn sophomore later gained control late in the set, taking the final two games to secure the opening frame 6-4. In the second set, Refaat quickly jumped ahead 3-0 and maintained her advantage, closing out the match with a 6-2 victory to give Auburn a 2-1 lead.
Needing a result, No. 65 Cross challenged No. 50 Khairutdinova on the second court. In a back-and-forth affair that featured four consecutive ties, Cross was able to edge Khairutdinova for the 6-4 set win. Auburn’s second option responded well in the second set by winning 6-0 to force a third set. In the third, Cross flipped the prior result to take the final set 6-0 to tie the match at 2-2.
Lanton was next up against her doubles opponent, No. 27 Bowers, on the fifth court. Lanton opened the first set with a 3-1 lead before Bowers rallied to level the score at 4-4 and take the final two games to win the set 6-4. In the second set, the two traded games early and were tied at 4-4 before Bowers once again claimed the final two games to secure the 6-4 victory to push Auburn ahead 3-2.
Looking to extend the match, McDonald took on No. 91 Angella Okutoyi on the third court. McDonald battled through a tight opening set that featured four lead changes and ties, eventually breaking ahead late to claim the set 7-5. Okutoyi responded in the second set by jumping out to a 3-1 lead and maintained control to take the frame 6-3. In the deciding set, the Auburn senior built an early 4-1 advantage and pulled away late to secure the match with a 6-2 result to win the dual match.
Up Next
LSU travels to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas on Mar. 13 at 5:00 p.m. CT at the Billingsley Tennis Center.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow the Tigers on X @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.
LSU vs Auburn
03/07/26 at Baton Rouge, La.
LSU Tennis Complex
#4 LSU 2, #5 Auburn 4
Singles competition
1. #52 Cadence Brace (LSU) vs. #33 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-4, 4-6, 1-2, unfinished
2. #65 Kayla Cross (LSU) def. #50 Ekaterina Khairutdinova (AUB) 6-4, 0-6, 6-0
3. Ella McDonald (LSU) fell to #91 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 7-5, 3-6, 2-6
4. Carolina Kuhl (LSU) fell to Merna Refaat (AUB) 4-6, 2-6
5. Addison Lanton (LSU) fell to #27 Ashton Bowers (AUB) 4-6, 4-6
6. #120 Kinaa Graham (LSU) def. #31 Ava Esposito (AUB) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #9 Kayla Cross/Ella McDonald (LSU) fell to #14 DJ Bennett/Ava Esposito (AUB) 1-6
2. Cadence Brace/Carolina Kuhl (LSU) vs. #39 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) 5-4, unfinished
3. Alexia Marginean/Addison Lanton (LSU) fell to #83 Ashton Bowers/Ekaterina Khairutdinova (AUB) 4-6
Match Notes:
LSU 9-4 (2-3 SEC); National ranking #4
Auburn 21-1 (5-0 SEC); National ranking #5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,4,2,5,3)