Tiger Rag News Services
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Sophomore Cadence Brace posted a 7-5, 6-1 clinching performance as the No. 9-seeded, No. 15 nationally ranked LSU women’s tennis team secured a 4-1 win over No. 4-seeded, No. 1 nationally ranked Georgia on Saturday afternoon at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
For the first time in program history, the Tigers are moving on to the final! pic.twitter.com/9wpBHJov2o
— LSU Women's Tennis (@LSUwten) April 18, 2026
No. 15 LSU improves to 19-8 while No. 1 Georgia falls to 18-5. LSU earned its first victory over the Bulldogs since 1985 and its highest-ranked victory in program history. With the result, the Tigers advance to the program’s first-ever SEC Tournament Final appearance.
“Just incredibly proud and happy for our team,” said head coach Taylor Fogleman. “To come through four matches in four days in what is, without question, the best conference in the country this year, and prove to ourselves that we’re one of the top teams as well, says a lot about this group. In really tricky conditions today, I thought our ladies handled it like champions, starting in doubles where we managed things about as well as we could, and then carrying that into singles. Like we’ve done all week, we built leads, stretched them, faced a few setbacks in some matches, and responded with a ton of fight. It’s been a complete team performance on and off the court, especially against the No. 1 team in the country. Drake (Bernstein) and his staff’s success speaks for itself, so this is a really positive step forward for us. The team is excited, but also hungry to get back out there tomorrow. We’ll need that same level of energy and competitiveness against another top team in Auburn, so we’ll enjoy this one tonight, recover, and get ready for another big match.”
Singles competition
1. #18 Cadence Brace (LSU) def. #20 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) 7-5, 6-1
2. #46 Kayla Cross (LSU) vs. #8 Aysegul Mert (UGA) 6-2, 3-6, 5-6, unfinished
3. Ella McDonald (LSU) def. #68 Deniz Dilek (UGA) 6-4, 6-2
4. #108 Addison Lanton (LSU) def. #54 Anastasiia Gureva (UGA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Carolina Kuhl (LSU) vs. #86 Sofia Rojas (UGA) 7-6 (7-5), 5-4, unfinished
6. #110 Kenna Erickson (LSU) fell to Patricija Paukstyte (UGA) 5-7, 2-6
Doubles competition
1. #67 Cadence Brace/Kayla Cross (LSU) def. #10 Anastasiia Lopata/Patricija Paukstyte (UGA) 6-3
2. #29 Kenna Erickson/Ella McDonald (LSU) vs. #3 Deniz Dilek/Aysegul Mert (UGA) 4-4, unfinished
3. Carolina Kuhl/Addison Lanton (LSU) def. Emily Deming/Anastasiia Gureva (UGA) 6-2
Up Next
LSU takes on No. 3-seeded and No. 3 nationally ranked Auburn in the SEC Tournament Final on Sunday, Apr. 19, at 3:00 p.m. CT. The matchup will be streamed on the SEC Network.
MEN’S TENNIS
No. 3-seeded LSU fell to No. 2-seeded Mississippi State today, 4-2, in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Final pic.twitter.com/XBOniRk1SJ
— LSU Men's Tennis (@LSUTennis) April 18, 2026
LSU moves to 25-6, while Mississippi State improves to 22-4.
“It was a tough, but really good match today,” said head coach Danny Bryan. “You could see the momentum shifting back and forth multiple times with both teams battling hard. In the doubles, we certainly had chances because we were winning big points, even though I felt we were falling a little behind. In singles, we had a really good start in the first set on a lot of the courts. They came back on some of them, and credit to them – they don’t give you anything cheap. Our guys battled and gave everything they had, and we weren’t quite good enough today.”
Singles competition
1. #7 Be Sanchez Martinez (MSST) vs. #28 Olaf Pieczkowski (LSU) 3-6, 6-2, 4-3, unfinished
2. #25 Erik Arutiunian (LSU) def. #84 Niccolo Baroni (MSST) 6-1, 7-6 (7-0)
3. #91 Ma Martinez Serrano (MSST) def. #106 Andrej Loncarevic (LSU) 7-6 (11-9), 7-5
4. Raphael Vaksmann (MSST) def. Matias Ponce De Leon (LSU) 7-5, 7-5
5. #123 Br Hernandez Cortes (MSST) def. Alessio Vasquez (LSU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
6. Enzo Kohlmann (LSU) def. Ro Ferrer Guimaraes (MSST) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
Doubles competition
1. #77 Michal Novansky/Be Sanchez Martinez (MSST) def. #14 Sasa Markovic/Andrej Loncarevic (LSU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Matias Ponce De Leon/Erik Arutiunian (LSU) def. Niccolo Baroni/Ma Martinez Serrano (MSST) 7-5
3. Ro Ferrer Guimaraes/Br Hernandez Cortes (MSST) def. Olaf Pieczkowski/Enzo Kohlmann (LSU) 6-3
TRACK AND FIELD
The LSU track and field team closed their three days of action on Saturday this weekend as the team split up for meets in California and Florida.
An outdoor season that has seen plenty of LSU records go down already added another on Saturday as the women took on the 4×400-meter relay in Gainesville.
LSU ran out a new lineup that went in the order of Ella Onojuvwevwo, Rafiatu Nuhu, Kennedi Burks and Shawnti Jackson. Onojuvwevwo got them out fast as she gave the Tigers the lead into the second leg of the race; the duo of Onojuvwevwo and Nuhu clocking 1:42.48 (51.24 avg.) in the first two legs. Freshman Kennedi Burks clocked 51.79 seconds on the third split, while Jackson ran a blistering 49.68-second split to close the race and give the Tigers a new record of 3:23.94.
BOW 💥 WHAT A RACE‼️ https://t.co/3Fm1eMERyb pic.twitter.com/a8BGG4IMdh
— LSU Track & Field (@LSUTrackField) April 18, 2026
The previous LSU 4×400 record was set in 2012 by the team of Latoya McDermott, Rebecca Alexander, Cassandra Tate, and Jonique Day when they went 3:24.59 at the NCAA Championships.
The women’s sprint group also popped off in the 100-meter heats in Florida. Freshman Athaleyha Hinckson dropped a scorching personal-best time of 11.10 seconds that made her the new Guyanese national-record holder. Hinckson’s time also moved her to No. 2 in the world for U20 runners in 2026 behind Jamaican Shanoya Douglas’s 10.98 seconds ran a few weeks ago.
Also clocking a great time in the 100m was junior Tima Godbless with the time of 11.13 seconds. Godbless’s new season best moves her closer to where she belongs in the sub-11 second category.
Another great freshman performance on Saturday was Jillian Scully in the women’s discus throw. Scully only landed two throws in Gainesville, one being a 56.95 meter (186-10) on her first attempt and the other being a new PR of 57.25 meters (187-10) on her third throw. Her new best of 57.25 moved her to No. 4 in LSU performance-list history, No. 4 in the world for U20 throwers in 2026, and No. 9 in the NCAA for 2026.
Head Coach Dennis Shaver’s Notables
The women’s 4×100 improved their No. 8 time in the NCAA to 43.06.
Adeyah Brewster ran a 100h PR of 12.96.
Salieci Myles ran a 100h PR of 12.92.
Aniyah Bigam ran a 100m PR of 11.24.
Jaiden Reid ran the No. 5 100m time in the NCAA of 10.01.
Leah Acosta threw the No. 9 shot put mark in LSU history of 50-4.
Kennedi Burks ran a 400m PR of 52.50.
Micaela Villarreal ran a 1500m PR of 4:21.42.
WOMEN’S GOLF
LSU sophomore Francesca Fiorellini birdied five-of-her-last-nine holes to finish with a 2-under par round of 68 to lead the Tigers Saturday in the second round of the SEC Women’s Golf Championship Saturday at Pelican Golf Club.
The transfer native from Rome, Italy, birdied the par 4 first and fourth holes (her 10th and 13th of the road, and after a bogey on the fifth, was able to birdie the par 4 sixth and for the second straight day the longest hole on the course, the par 5 seventh.
While she didn’t par the eighth hole, her play was almost as good. After hitting her second shot over the green and onto the top of the ninth tee box, she putted down the hill to about 25 feet and then drained the putt to save par.
On her 18th hole of the day, the par 3 ninth on the course, she cozied a tee shot to a tucked pin and rolled in about a 15-foot putt for her final birdie of the round.
For the two days, Fiorellini is now at 1-over par 141 (73-68). She moved up 17 spots in the tournament standings to a tie for 29th place.
As a team, LSU played much better, improving their score by some 14 shots with a 2-over par 282. The Tigers moved up one spot to 14th place going into the final round.
LSU is at 18-over par 578 (296-282).
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
AT BELLEAIR, FLORIDA – PELICAN GOLF CLUB
Second round team results (Par 280-560)
1 No. 5 Texas – 277-273 – 550 -10
2 No. 27 Oklahoma – 280-272 – 552 -8
3 No. 14 Vanderbilt – 276-278 – 554 -6
4 No. 3 Florida – 277-278 – 555 -5
T5 No. 21 Ole Miss – 277-279 – 556 -4
T5 No. 6 Arkansas – 278-278 – 556 -4
7 No. 4 Texas A&M – 276-281 – 557 -3
T8 No. 18 Tennessee – 284-275 – 559 -1
T8 No. 8 Auburn – 283-276 – 559 -1
T8 No. 16 Mississippi State – 280-279 – 559 -1
11 No. 23 South Carolina – 284-280 – 564 +4
12 No. 35 Missouri – 288-279 – 567 +7
13 No. 31 Kentucky – 289-288 – 577 +17
14 No. 32 LSU – 296-282 – 578 +18
15 Georgia – 295-291 – 586 +26
16 Alabama – 296-295 – 591 +31
Individual Top 5 (Par 70-140)
1 Mary Miller, Ole Miss – 66-66 –132 -8
T2 Avery Weed, Mississippi State – 66-68 – 134 -6
T2 Vanessa Borovilos, Texas A&M – 66-68 – 134 -6
T4 Paula Francisco, Florida – 67-68 – 135 -5
T4 Savannah Barber, Oklahoma – 68-67 – 135 -5
T4 Farah O’Keefe, Texas – 68-67 – 135 -5
LSU Scores
T29 Francesca Fiorellini – 73-68 – 141 +1
T54 Ryleigh Knaub – 75-70 – 145 +5
T58 Taylor Riley – 74-72 – 146 +6
T58 Rocio Tejedo – 74-72 – 146 +6
T74 Elsa Svensson – 77-75 – 152 +12
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