Tiger Rag News Services
Freshman Carolina Kuhl posted a 6-4, 6-3 win on the third court to lift the No. 5 LSU women’s tennis team to a 4-0 sweep over No. 14 Tennessee to open ITA National Indoor Team Championship play on Friday morning at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois.
LSU improves to 6-0 while Tennessee drops to 2-1. The Tigers open their season with a 6-0 mark for the first time since 2021.
“Good result for the ladies today to move on to the next round,” said head coach Taylor Fogleman. “We got off to a slightly slow start in the doubles, but our girls showed a lot of resolve in fighting on all three courts and ultimately getting over the line. Carolina (Kuhl) and Alexia (Marginean) provided us with a lot of momentum from their match, which helped us get off to several big leads to open singles. Afterward, we were able to extend those leads and get over the finish line. I thought our girls performed very well once they got settled in. Tennessee is a well-coached, very tough team that fights hard. Their kids competed until the last point, and we knew what was ahead. Now, we’ll get some much-needed rest and gear up for a great match tomorrow against either Georgia or Virginia.”
Junior Kenna Erickson and sophomore Ella McDonald opened the dual match on the top doubles spot against No. 17 Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso. After dropping the first game, Erickson and McDonald tied the set at 1-1 before later falling behind 4-1. Despite Aulia and Britez Risso holding a sizable lead, the LSU duo captured the final five games to post a 6-4 set victory. The pair now owns a 3-0 record on the season and collected their first ranked victory.
Sophomore Cadence Brace and freshman Addison Lanton were next against Vanesa Suarez and Francesca Mattioli on the second court. After a 1-1 tie, Brace and Lanton fell behind at 4-1. The pair would later rally to cut into the lead at 5-4; however, Suarez and Mattioli closed the set out with a 6-4 win.
With all eyes on the third court, Kuhl and fellow freshman Alexia Marginean battled Saray Yli-Piipari and Maeve Thornton. The LSU pair fell behind early, trailing 2-0, before pulling a game back to make it 2-1. After falling behind again at 3-1 and 4-2, Kuhl and Marginean continued to respond, narrowing the gap to 4-3 and later tying the set at 5-5 and 6-6 to force a seven-point tiebreaker. The LSU pair left no doubt in the tiebreaking set, jumping out to an early 4-1 lead and later closing the set with a 7-6(3) win to award LSU the doubles point.
No. 122 Lanton opened singles play against doubles foe Mattioli on court No. 4. The freshman made quick work in the first set with a 6-0 sweep. Mattioli would open the second set with a 1-1 tie before Lanton earned the final five games for a 6-1 set win to give LSU a 2-0 lead.
Looking to rally after her doubles setback, Brace challenged doubles opponent Suarez on the top spot. Brace quickly took the first two games in the set before Suarez stole a game. The sophomore jumped out to a 4-1 lead and later closed out the set 6-2. In the second set, Brace only dropped one game en route to a 6-1 set win to give LSU a 3-0 lead.
In a position to clinch the match, Kuhl faced No. 87 Aulia on court No. 3. Kuhl jumped out to a 4–0 lead before Aulia cut the deficit to 4–1. The Tennessee senior later narrowed the gap to 5–4, but Kuhl closed out the set, 6–4. The freshman surged for a 5-0 lead in the second set. Aulia would attempt to rally, but Kuhl closed the set out with a 6-3 win to clinch the 4-0 match win for LSU.
Up Next
LSU (6-0) will face the winner of No. 1 Georgia (1-1) or No. 15 Virginia (6-2) in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 12:00 p.m. CT.
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