BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 10 LSU women’s tennis team fell short in its final contest over the weekend to No. 3 Texas A&M, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex
LSU falls to 12-7 and 5-6 in the SEC. Meanwhile, Texas A&M moves to 18-3 and 10-1 in the conference.
“It was a tough match for us again,” said head coach Taylor Fogleman. “I thought we were in pretty good control in doubles for the most part, but Texas A&M did a few things better than us down the stretch to get over the line. I wasn’t displeased with our effort and energy, but some of the execution at the end needs to improve. In singles, we’re dealing with a few things right now, but nobody, including us, should feel sorry for ourselves. We had a few matches that weren’t as competitive as we needed, and while it wasn’t for a lack of effort, we have to do a better job of coaching, and we will. I’m very confident in this group. We’ll stay the course, get a few things fixed and healed, and I’m optimistic about the final stretch of the season.”
Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross opened the dual match on the top doubles spot against No. 8 Mia Kupres and Lucciana Perez. Looking to respond after a setback in their last appearance, the LSU duo took a quick 3-0 lead in the lone set. Though Kupres and Perez would steal two games, Brace and Cross took the final three of four games to earn a 6-3 victory.
Addison Lanton and Alexia Marginean were next on the third court against Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov. In a back-and-forth set that featured two lead changes and ties, Lanton and Marginean fell behind at 5-3 and were unable to recover, dropping the set 6-4.
With the doubles point on the line, Kenna Erickson and Carolina Kuhl took on No. 75 Ilinca Amariei and Violeta Martinez on court No. 2. In a tightly contested affair that saw six consecutive ties to force a seven-point tiebreaker, Erickson and Kuhl narrowly fell 7-6(4) to award Texas A&M the doubles point.
Marginean started singles play on the sixth court against her doubles foe, Smetannikov, on court No. 6. The freshman fell behind early and couldn’t recover, falling 6-1. Similarly, despite tying the second set at 1-1, Smetannikov stole the final five games to win the set 6-1 and give the Aggies a 2-0 match lead.
Looking to maintain her singles form as of late, Lanton took on a ranked foe in No. 54 Amariei on the third spot. After jumping out to a 3-0 advantage in the opening frame, Lanton held off a rally to take the set 6-3. The freshman carried that momentum into the second, racing ahead 4-0 before closing out a dominant 6-2 victory to alter the match score to 2-1. With the result, Lanton now holds 13 singles wins on the season and is currently riding a four-match winning streak.
Kuhl was next up as she faced off against Reed on the fourth court. The freshman jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and maintained control before Reed battled back to even the set at 4-4. After Kuhl briefly regained the lead at 5-4, Reed took the final three games to win the set 7-5. In the second, Kuhl fell behind early and was unable to recover, dropping the frame 6-1 to give Texas A&M a 3-1 lead.
Needing a result to extend the match, No. 58 Brace took on her doubles opponent, No. 2 Perez, on the top singles court. Brace took an early 1-0 lead in the opening set before Perez gained control and later closed out a 6-3 set. In the second, Brace fell behind quickly and later dropped the set 6-1 to clinch the win for the Aggies.
Up Next
The Tigers resume action at the LSU Tennis Complex against Alabama on Thursday, Apr. 2, at 5:00 p.m. CT.
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow the Tigers on X @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.
LSU vs Texas A&M
03/29/26 at Baton Rouge, La.
LSU Tennis Complex
#10 LSU 1, #3 Texas A&M 4
Singles competition
1. #58 Cadence Brace (LSU) fell to #2 Lucciana Perez (TAMU) 3-6, 1-6
2. #45 Kayla Cross (LSU) vs. #31 Mia Kupres (TAMU) 2-6, 6-0, 3-0, unfinished
3. Addison Lanton (LSU) def. #54 Ilinca Amariei (TAMU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Carolina Kuhl (LSU) fell to Lexington Reed (TAMU) 5-7, 1-6
5. Kenna Erickson (LSU) vs. #96 Violeta Martinez (TAMU) 4-6, 4-5, unfinished
6. Alexia Marginean (LSU) fell to Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) 1-6, 1-6
Doubles competition
1. Cadence Brace/Kayla Cross (LSU) def. #8 Mia Kupres/Lucciana Perez (TAMU) 6-3
2. Kenna Erickson/Carolina Kuhl (LSU) fell to #75 Ilinca Amariei/Violeta Martinez (TAMU) 6-7 (4-7)
3. Addison Lanton/Alexia Marginean (LSU) fell to Lexington Reed/Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) 4-6
Match Notes:
LSU 12-7 (5-6 SEC); National ranking #10
Texas A&M 18-3 (10-1 SEC); National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,3,4,1)