MALIBU, Calif. – The LSU women’s tennis team (3-0) opened ITA Kickoff Weekend with a 4-0 win over Loyola Marymount (0-2) on Friday afternoon at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on the campus of Pepperdine.

With the win, the Tigers advance to the next round of their host site, where they’ll face No. 6 Pepperdine with a chance to advance to the ITA National Indoor Championships.

Taylor’s Thoughts
“Credit to Loyola Marymount for a competitive match,” head coach Taylor Fogleman said. “The scoreline was a bit harsh on them and doesn’t show how competitive of a team they have over there. I loved the energy and fight that our ladies brought today; we just need to work on a few things in our execution. We’re happy with the win and we’re looking forward to a challenge tomorrow against a good Pepperdine squad.”

Doubles Results
The Lions struck first in doubles as Fiona Arrese and Stef Rogozinska-Dzik took down LSU’s Florentine Dekkers and Aran Teixidó Garcia by a score of 6-2 at the No. 2 doubles court.

The Tigers struck back moments later as Maya Tahan and Kenna Erickson scored LSU’s first win of the day with a comfortable 6-3 win over Anastasia Bozova and Romane Loungeville at the No. 3 spot.

The doubles point came down to the top court, where Kinaa Graham and Anita Sahdiieva faced Isabel Tcherkes-Zade and Carlota Molina. The teams traded points to start their match, but the LMU duo pulled ahead and took a 5-4 lead. Graham and Sahdiieva won the next game to make it 5-5 and then split the following two to make it 6-6 and require a tiebreaker. The tiebreaker was a tight battle, with the Tigers overcoming a slow start to win the final three points to earn an 8-6 tiebreaker win. The win gave the Tigers the doubles point and a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

Singles Results
Teixidó Garcia bounced back from her doubles defeat with a strong straight set win over Tcherkes-Zade at the No. 3 singles spot to get things started in singles. Teixidó Garcia took an early lead in the first set and didn’t look back as she went on to win, 6-3. The second set saw the LSU Tiger take another early lead and hold off a surge from Tcherkes-Zade to win 6-4 and make it 2-0 to the Tigers. The win is Teixidó Garcia’s third singles win of the season and she has scored a singles point in all three matches the Tigers have played thus far.

The Tigers took a 3-0 lead in the match shortly after as Tahan took down Kim-Michaela Zahraj at the No. 5 spot. Tahan claimed the first set, 6-3, and remained in control of the second as she comfortably won by a score of 6-2 to secure the straight set win. The win improved Tahan’s singles record to 2-0 as a Tiger.

LSU clinched the match when Sahdiieva secured the No. 4 singles court, defeating Arrese in straight sets. Sahdiieva opened the match in fine form and dropped only one game in the first set to claim a 6-1 win. The second set saw Arrese jump out to an early lead, but the LSU Tigers bounced back from a slow start and retake the lead on her way to a 6-4 win. The win clinched a 4-0 team victory for the Tigers and their spot in the next round of ITA Kickoff Weekend. For Sahdiieva, it’s her third singles win of the dual season, and she joins Teixidó Garcia as the only Tigers to score a singles point in all three matches thus far this season.

Up Next
LSU will face No. 6 Pepperdine at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, with the winners advancing to the ITA National Indoor Championships in February. It will be the eighth time the two programs will meet, and first since 2014. Pepperdine has claimed victory in six of the seven previous matchups.

The Waves earned a 4-0 on Friday morning over WCC-foe San Diego State. Pepperdine features four singles players ranked by the ITA; No. 21 Savannah Broadus, No. 77 Nikki Redeijk, No. 79 Anna Campana and No. 96 Janice Tjen. In doubles, Tjen and Broadus are the No. 4-ranked duo in the nation having posted an 8-1 record in the fall campaign.

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LMU vs. LSU
Jan. 26, 2024
Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center

LSU 4, LMU 0

Singles

1. #56 Graham,Kinaa (LSU) vs. Rogozinska-Dzik,Stef (LMU) 4-6, 4-3, unfinished
2. Dekkers,Florentine (LSU) vs. Molina,Carlota (LMU) 5-7, 2-2, unfinished
3. Teixido Garcia,Aran (LSU) def. Tcherkes-Zade,Isabel (LMU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Sahdiieva,Anita (LSU) def. Arrese,Fiona (LMU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Tahan,Maya (LSU) def. Zahraj,Kim-Michaela (LMU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Erickson,Kenna (LSU) vs. Loungeville,Romane (LMU) 6-3, 1-6, 0-1, unfinished

Doubles

1. Graham,Kinaa/Sahdiieva,Anita (LSU) def. Tcherkes-Zade,Isabel/Molina,Carlota (LMU) 7-6
2. Rogozinska-Dzik,Stef/Arrese,Fiona (LMU) def. Dekkers,Florentine/Teixido Garcia,Aran (LSU) 6-2
3. Erickson,Kenna/Tahan,Maya (LSU) def. Bozova,Anastasia/Loungeville,Romane (LMU) 6-3

Match Notes:
LMU 0-2
LSU 3-0
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,5,4)