LSU Spring Sports Recap – March 27

Tiger Rag News Services

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

The No. 12 LSU Beach Volleyball team went 0-2 on Friday against No. 2 Stanford and No. 1 UCLA.

LSU 1, Stanford 4

1. Avery Jackson / Kelly Belardi (STAN) def. Kenzey McGatlin / Julia Sprecher (LSU) 27-25, 21-12
2.  Tatum Finlason / Skylar Martin (LSU) def. Ruby Sorra / Brooke Rockwell (STAN) 22-20, 21-18
3.  Charlotta Bell / Logan Tusher (STAN) def. Aubrey O’Gorman / Ryan Lambert (LSU) 21-10, 21-16
4.  Clara Stowell / Indigo Clarke (STAN) def. Zayna Meyer / Bella Lagemann (LSU) 21-16, 21-13
5.  Chloe Hoffman / Elena Fisher (STAN) def. Emily Hellmuth / Kate Baker (LSU) 21-12, 19-21, 15-9

LSU 0, UCLA 5

1. Sally Perez / Maggie Boyd (UCLA) def. Julia Sprecher / Kenzey McGatlin (LSU) 21-16, 18-21, 15-8
2. Kalfy Mathews / Alden Ensley (UCLA) def. Skylar Martin / Tatum Finlason (LSU) 21-13, 21-7
3. Alexa Fernandez / Harper Cooper (UCLA) def. Aubrey O’Gorman / Bella Lagemann (LSU) 21-17, 18-21, 15-13
4. Ava Williamson / Adelina Okazaki (UCLA) def. Zayna Meyer / Ryan Lambert (LSU) 21-15, 21-12
5. Kenzie Brower / Mallory LaBreche (UCLA) def. Kate Baker / Emily Hellmuth (LSU) 21-17, 21-12

The Sandy Tigs will compete in two matches to finish out the weekend on Saturday, starting at 10 AM CT against No. 10 Long Beach, followed by a 12:30 PM CT match against No. 3 USC.

MEN’S TENNIS

This evening, No. 7 LSU fell to No. 23 Auburn with a score of 5-2 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.

LSU moves to 20-5, going 6-4 in SEC play, while Auburn advances to 15-5 with a 5-4 conference mark.

“It wasn’t our best day,” said head coach Danny Bryan. “I’m confident in our players and know they will be ready to bounce back on Sunday.”

Singles competition
1. #40 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. #29 Olaf Pieczkowski (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
2. #76 Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. #24 Erik Arutiunian (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Andrej Loncarevic (LSU) def. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-4, 6-2
4. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Alessio Vasquez (LSU) 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 1-0 (10-8)
5. Alan Bojarski (AUB) def. Sasa Markovic (LSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Matias Ponce De Leon (LSU) def. Manel Lazaro (AUB) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. #63 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Sasa Markovic/Andrej Loncarevic (LSU) 6-2
2. Nicholas Heng/Alan Bojarski (AUB) vs. #42 Matias Ponce De Leon/Erik Arutiunian (LSU) 4-5, unfinished
3. Hamza Nasridinov/Jake Kennedy (AUB) def. Rudy Ceccon/Olaf Pieczkowski (LSU) 6-2

Up Next 

LSU will look to get back on track against No. 17 Vanderbilt on Sunday, March 29, at 1:00 p.m. CT at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

The No. 10 LSU women’s tennis team started strong but was unable to rally late, dropping its SEC contest to No. 7 Texas, 4-2, on Friday evening at the LSU Tennis Complex.

LSU drops to 12-6 and 5-5 in the SEC. Meanwhile, Texas moves to 13-4 and 8-2 in the conference.

“This was a tough match for us today,” said head coach Taylor Fogleman. “Texas is a very strong and well-coached team. I thought we had some momentum after doubles, but they quickly turned the tide by taking five first-sets, and we just didn’t have the energy we needed to start singles. However, I did like the response from nearly every player after those early setbacks. Overall, it was a great fight, but it’s a tough lesson we have to learn. The girls are hungry to improve, and I know they will. I also know we can coach better. We’ll come together as a group, continue to support each other, and I am confident we’ll turn in a better performance on Sunday against Texas A&M and as we move forward through the season.”

Singles competition
1. #58 Cadence Brace (LSU) fell to #1 Carmen Herea (TEX) 1-6, 4-6
2. #45 Kayla Cross (LSU) fell to #12 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) 0-6, 3-6
3. #88 Ella McDonald (LSU) vs. #71 Eszter Meri (TEX) 3-6, 6-4, 2-0, unfinished
4. Addison Lanton (LSU) def. Christasha McNeil (TEX) 6-2, 6-4
5. Carolina Kuhl (LSU) fell to Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 1-6, 3-6
6. #104 Kinaa Graham (LSU) fell to M Ngijol-Carre (TEX) 2-6, 6-7 (6-8)

Doubles competition
1. Cadence Brace/Kayla Cross (LSU) fell to #53 Anastasia Abbagnato/Salma Drugdova (TEX) 2-6
2. #67 Kenna Erickson/Ella McDonald (LSU) def. #71 Elizabeth Ionescu/Christasha McNeil (TEX) 6-4
3. Addison Lanton/Alexia Marginean (LSU) def. Carmen Herea/M Ngijol-Carre (TEX) 6-1

Up Next

The Tigers stay home to take on No. 3 Texas A&M on Sunday, Mar. 29, at noon CT at the LSU Tennis Complex.

WOMEN’S GOLF

The LSU Tigers posted a 7-over round of 295 with sophomore Rocio Tejedo leading the team with a 1-over par round of 73 on the opening day of the Clemson Invitational at The Reserve at Lake Keowee in Sunset, South Carolina.

LSU is in 14th place after 18 holes with Vanderbilt the tournament leader at 13-under par 275. The Commodores are four shots clear of Florida at 9-under 279 with Arkansas in third at 7-under 281.

Tejedo had three frontside birdies on holes 1-9 (her final nine of the day) to shoot 1-under 35 in her round.

LSU also counted three rounds of 2-over 74 by Taylor Riley, Elsa Svensson and Francesca Fiorellini. Svensson had one of the five eagles on the opening day on the par 5, 535-yard fifth hole.

Riley had three birdies in her round and Fiorellini four.

Tejedo is in a group tied for 34th place as 21 golfers in the field of 88 posted in red figures (under par) on the par 72, 6,489-yard course.

Lynn Lim of Vanderbilt had a nine-birdie round of 63 to take the lead after 18 holes, one shot back of Olivia Duan of Princeton at 64.

Svensson, helped by her eagle was T2 in the field at 4.25 on the par 5 holes. Lucia Iraola is T2 in the field with 15 pars in the opening round.

The second round is set for Saturday morning with the Tigers set to tee off hole 10 at 9 a.m. CT. Live scoring can be found at Scoreboard.clippd.com.

CLEMSON INVITATIONAL
The Reserve at Lake Keowee – Sunset, South Carolina
First Round Team Results (Par 288)
1 No. 15 Vanderbilt – 275 -13
2 No. 4 Florida – 279 -9
3 No. 8 Arkansas 281 -7
4 No. 39 Ohio State – 283 -5
5 Princeton – 285 -3
6 UNCW – 288 -2
7 Maryland – 287 -1
8 No. 20 Tennessee – 288 E
9 No. 38 Virginia Tech – 289 +1
10 No. 18 Ole Miss 291 +3
11 No. 27 Kent State – 292 +4
T12 Miami – 294 +6
T12 NO. 44 Clemson – 294 +6
14 No. 30 LSU – 295 +7
15 No. 43 Michigan State – 296 +8
16 Charleston – 299 +11

Top 5 Individuals (Par 72)
1 Lynn Lim, Vanderbilt – 63 -9
2 Olivia Dunn, Princeton – 64 -8
T3 Maria Jose Marin, Arkansas – 67 -5
T3 Kary Hollenbaugh, Ohio State – 67 -5
T5 Anna Pillard, Maryland – 68 -4
T5 Elaine Widjaja, Florida – 68 -4

LSU Scores
T34 Rocio Tejedo – 73 +1
T48 Francesca Fiorellini – 74 +2
T48 Elsa Svensson – 74 +2
T48 Taylor Riley – 74 +2
T72 Lucia Iraola – 76 +4

TRACK AND FIELD

The LSU track and field team closed out day one of action at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational on Friday, seeing a plethora of amazing performances from each event group.

A performance worthy of SEC Runner of the Week and possibly USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors came from sprint prodigy Shawnti Jackson in her first meet competing for the Tigers.

Jackson joined the Tigers after transferring from Arkansas this past fall. On Friday she became the first ever woman to go sub-36 seconds in the outdoor 300 meter with the winning time of 35.89 seconds. The previous outdoor-collegiate record stood at 36.41 seconds, ran by Texas A&M’s Jermaisha Arnold in 2024. The time of 35.89 seconds also ranks top 25 in world history for indoors and outdoors combined.

The men’s 300m competition saw some great times as well. Jeremiah Walker took the event win with the No. 2 time in NCAA history of 32.58 seconds, while Shakeem McKay recorded the No. 3 time in NCAA history of 32.83 seconds to finish third.

Sophomore Yuya Sawada clocked the No. 4 3000-meter time in LSU performance-list history of 9:25.15 to take her first win of the season. In second behind Sawada was freshman Micaela Villarreal making her second appearance of the outdoor season with the No. 8 performance in LSU history of 9:34.23.

Head Coach Dennis Shaver’s Notables
Hugh Carlson won the 3000m with a PR of 8:26.93.
Skyler Franklin ran the No. 5 outdoor 300m in collegiate history of 37.23.
Nasya Williams ran the No. 9 outdoor 300m in collegiate history of 37.83.
Isaac Lewis ran the No. 7 outdoor 300m in collegiate history of 33.52.