The LSU women’s tennis team defeated Rice 4-1 at the LSU Tennis Complex on May 3, advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals for the second consecutive season. Freshman Carolina Kuhl secured the clinching victory with a comeback in her singles match, finishing 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
This marks LSU’s fourth appearance in the NCAA Super Regionals and highlights continued progress for the program. The Tigers now hold a season record of 21-9, while Rice concludes its season at 18-7.
Head coach Taylor Fogleman said, “It’s a great thing for our program to be in back-to-back Sweet 16s. Rice really pushed us to the brink today. I worked for Elizabeth (Schmidt) for three years, and she’s one of the best coaches in the country at preparing her team, especially this time of year. They challenged us in a lot of different positions, but I thought we handled ourselves well in the business end of some third sets to get over the line. We’re really excited for another opportunity to play. It’ll be on the road against a really good Virginia team that won the ACC regular season, so 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 and, even though there’s certainly more we want to do, we’ll enjoy this one and get ready for Virginia on Saturday.”
In doubles play, Kenna Erickson and Ella McDonald earned an early win on court two before Addison Lanton and Kuhl clinched another point on court three with a close set victory. In singles competition, Cadence Brace delivered an early lead by winning her match decisively.
Kinaa Graham lost her singles match after battling through two competitive sets; however, McDonald responded by overcoming an initial setback and securing another point for LSU with strong performances in later sets.
LSU will next travel to Charlottesville for an NCAA Super Regional matchup against No. 7-seeded Virginia on Saturday.
