No. 10 LSU Hosts Top-10 SEC Showdowns vs. No. 7 Texas, No. 3 Texas A&M
BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 10 LSU women’s tennis team returns to action at the LSU Tennis Complex to host No. 7 Texas on Mar. 27 at 5:00 p.m. CT, and No. 3 Texas A&M on Sunday, Mar. 29 at noon CT.
According to the latest official ITA rankings (Mar. 27), LSU ranks No. 10 in the dual season team rankings.
Last time out, the Tigers traveled to Columbia and posted a 4-0 sweep over Missouri. Two days later, the Tigers returned home after three consecutive away matches to earn a hard-fought 5-2 result against No. 12 Vanderbilt.
Attendance at all LSU matches at the LSU Tennis Complex is free. Attendees will be required to comply with the university’s clear-bag policy.
LSU holds a 12-5 record on the season and has clinched the doubles point in 10 of its matches. The Tigers own a 47-22 singles mark and a 25-16 doubles record.
The Tigers feature four ranked singles players in No. 45 Kayla Cross, No. 58 Cadence Brace, No. 88 Ella McDonald, and No. 104 Kinaa Graham in the latest ITA rankings.
Furthermore, LSU has two ranked doubles pairings: No. 11 Cross and McDonald and No. 65 Kenna Erickson and McDonald.
Cross holds a 3-0 singles mark on the season. The sophomore holds two ranked victories on the campaign, highlighted by taking down Auburn’s then-No. 50 Ekaterina Khairutdinova, 6-4, 0-6, 6-0.
Brace holds a 5-1 mark on the top spot, behind three ranked victories, most recently highlighted by taking down Vanderbilt’s No. 33 Bridget Stammel, 6-3, 6-1.
McDonald checks in with a 5-3 singles mark. She posted a ranked victory to clinch the match win against Florida’s No. 26 Gabia Paskauskas, 6-2, 6-3.
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). Since then, the duo has a 3-1 record this season, all against ranked opponents.
Beyond teaming with Cross, McDonald has earned three doubles wins on the season with Erickson. Likewise, Erickson has collected four singles victories, riding a two-match winning streak, on the third and fifth courts this season.
Lanton has had a strong start to her freshman campaign with a team-leading 11-2 mark behind victories on the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth courts. The freshman has also earned eight total doubles victories with four different partners.
Following ITA Kickoff Weekend, on Jan. 28, Carolina Kuhl was named the SEC Freshman of the Week. Kuhl has registered a 10-5 record in singles play. The freshman clinched the victories in both of LSU’s results this past weekend, taking down Korina Roso, 6-2, 6-4, and No. 93 Mia Yamakita, 7-6(3), 6-4.
Finally, Graham has collected three singles wins this season, highlighted by defeating Auburn’s then-No. 31 Ava Esposito in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
Texas owns a 12-4 overall record behind a 7-2 mark in conference play. The Longhorns hold the top-ranked singles player in Carmen Andreea Herea, as well as No. 12 Anastasia Abbagnato and No. 71 Eszter Meri. Texas has four ranked doubles pairings in No. 41 Abbagnato and Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo, No. 53 Abbagnato and Salma Drugdova, No. 63 Herea and Elizabeth Ionescu, and No. 71 Ionescu and Christasha McNeil. Head coach Howard Joffe is in his 10th season with the program.
Texas A&M is 16-3 on the season with an 8-1 record in the SEC. The Aggies are represented in the ITA singles rankings by No. 2 Lucciana Perez, No. 31 Mia Kupres, No. 54 Ilinca Amariei, and No. 96 Violeta Martinez. For doubles, No. 8 Kupres and Perez, and No. 75 Amariei and Martinez make up the ranked pairings. Texas A&M is led by head coach Mark Weaver in his 11th 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.