TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
Freshman Carolina Kuhl posted a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 match-clinching victory as the No. 10-seeded LSU women’s tennis team downed Rice, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex.
LSU (21-9) advances to the NCAA Super Regionals for the fourth time in program history and second straight season. The first two were in 1995 and 2000. The Tigers will play at No. 7 seed Virginia (23-5) on Saturday at 12 p.m. in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“It’s a great thing for our program to be in back-to-back Super Regionals,” LSU coach Taylor Fogleman said. “Rice (18-7) really pushed us to the brink. They challenged us in a lot of different positions, but I thought we handled ourselves well. We’re really excited for another opportunity to play. It’ll be on the road against a really good Virginia team. We’ll have to play a bit better if we want to get through that. I’m super proud of the girls and everyone involved in the program. We’re taking steps in the right direction. There’s certainly more we want to do, but we’ll enjoy this one and get ready for Virginia on Saturday.”
After taking a 3-2 lead in the opening set over Nithesa Selvaraj, Kuhl surrendered the final four games to fall, 6-3. But she responded with a dominant 6-2 second set after building a 5-0 advantage. In the deciding third set, Kuhl took an early 2-1 lead before falling behind 3-2. She regained momentum to win four of the final five games and secure the 6-4 victory to clinch the match for LSU.
Kuhl (18-7) extended her winning streak to eight matches.
SINGLES
1. #9 Cadence Brace (LSU) defeated Darya Schwartzman (RICE) 6-3, 6-1
2. #21 Kayla Cross (LSU) vs. Divna Ratkovic (RICE) 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 0-3, unfinished
3. #77 Ella McDonald (LSU) defeated Uma Bakaityte (RICE) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-3
4. #96 Addison Lanton (LSU) vs. Francesca Maguina (RICE) 6-4, 4-6, 5-6, unfinished
5. Carolina Kuhl (LSU) defeated Nithesa Selvaraj (RICE) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Kinaa Graham (LSU) fell to Ema Mravcova (RICE) 3-6, 5-7
DOUBLES
1. #40 Cadence Brace/Kayla Cross (LSU) vs. #59 Darya Schwartzman/Uma Bakaityte (RICE) 4-5, unfinished
2. #17 Kenna Erickson/Ella McDonald (LSU) defeated Francesca Maguina/Ema Mravcova (RICE) 6-2
3. Addison Lanton/Carolina Kuhl (LSU) defeated Divna Ratkovic/Daniela Chica (RICE) 6-4
For more information on the LSU women’s tennis program, follow the Tigers on X @lsuwten, Instagram @LSUWTen, and Facebook.com/lsuwten.
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