LSU has accomplished much with most of its athletic programs. They’ve had success with football, baseball, basketball and track. Whatever the sport is, the Tigers are fierce competitors–tennis is no exception.
LSU women’s tennis recently exited the ITA Southern Regional with a statement; as for the men’s, they had an impressive showing in the Golden Eagle Fall Invitational. Both programs are gearing up for the upcoming season.
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Women’s Tennis’ head coach, Taylor Fogleman, has put together an impressive team. His efforts are giving the Tigers a real shot to go far this year. He’s another coach entering year two who has the potential to win a National Championship.
Before Fogleman was hired, the Tigers had a disappointing 5-14 record. In SEC play, they had an even lower 4-9 record. After his hiring, they jumped to a 13-11 and 5-8 record respectively. The SEC play has to improve this year if LSU wants a chance to win it all, but Fogleman has done everything to ensure it will.
In the most recent recruiting cycle, LSU landed several talented transfers and three new high school recruits, including the No. 3 prospect in the 2023 class.
Kinaa Graham, was considered a “blue-chip prospect” while in high school. Landing her was massive for LSU and she’s already made an impact.
In the most recent tournament, Graham went on to finish runner-up in both singles and doubles. The performances qualify her for the ITA National Championship in both singles and doubles.
“We’re certainly pleased with the progress we’ve made thus far this fall, but we have a great deal that we can improve upon,” Fogleman said in a statement.
LSU’s Women’s Tennis seems to be adamant to improve its place in the SEC standings and make a big push this year.
The men’s program also saw promise in its younger players at the Invitational. The Tigers relied heavily on two talented freshmen: Brock Anderson and Alessio Vasquez.
Between singles and doubles, the duo racked up nine wins for the program. Vasquez exited the tournament undefeated while Anderson fell on the third and final day, losing only once.
The men’s team had a 14-11 record last year, and went 4-8 in SEC play. LSU Tennis has to get better in SEC play, and the programs are taking promising steps to guarantee this.
Both teams are showing that constant improvement is a priority.
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The men’s team traveled to Auburn and competed in the ITA Southern Regional. The five day tournament left one Tiger remaining: Freshman Rudy Ceccon. Unfortunately, Ceccon lost on the final day to Alabama’s Matias Ponce De Leon.
The outlook isn’t as bad as it looks though. Nearly the entire roster claimed at least one victory through singles or doubles. The Tigers have dominated the early rounds; they just need to keep their pace.
In the Singles Main Round of 256, men’s tennis was undefeated. In Round of 128, the Tigers had three of six players win.
Fifty percent is a good benchmark, but the LSU standard is higher than “good”. The Tigers play Friday, Oct. 20. Seeing this number increase is something to look for as they play at the Cajun Classic.
Men’s tennis has a lot of firepower in its doubles teams, who made it all the way to the quarterfinals. Both teams lost there, but having two teams in the final eight is impressive.
They don’t have an issue getting into the later rounds, they just need to finish strong now.
The men’s program has already made a lot of progress. The last ITA Tournament they performed in was at the beginning of the month. Singles only had one player in the Round of 64, Ceccon, who lost. Doubles didn’t make it past the first round.
Compare that to the ITA Southern Regional, where the Tigers put three singles in the Round of 64 and had their doubles make it all the way to the quarterfinals. Improvements like that win championships.
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Speaking of championships, Women’s Tennis is bound to win one this year. Graham made it to the Qualifying Round of 16 in the ITA All-American Championships earlier this month. That’s a good placement for a true freshmen, but Graham is striving to be the best.
In the ITA Southern Regional, she was runner-up in both singles and doubles. Making it in just singles is impressive, making it in both singles and doubles is unprecedented and doing it as a true freshman means LSU has another legend in the making.
Graham has to improve finishing her matches. In her singles match, Graham lost the first set but bounced back in the second with a dominant 6-2 win. The match was at 1-1. Win two of three sets and win the match. Graham lost the final set 1-6. In her doubles match she won the first 6-1 before losing the final two.
She can’t let the pressure get to her; great players are unfazed by adversity. Luckily Graham is a true freshman. Joe Burrow, Angel Reese- name any LSU legend. They all took time to develop. Reaction to pressure is something that develops with experience.
Graham has already proven to be well ahead of schedule. She’s made it all the way to the finals in her fourth ever collegiate tournament.
Women’s tennis is competing in the Jackson ITF 15k. As the tournament plays out, Graham should be the center of attention. Fans should expect her to improve closing out matches as she competes in the tournament.
If both programs continue to make improvements, LSU could have another sport bring home a championship. They’ve been firing on all cylinders as the season draws closer.
