No. 24 LSU women’s tennis kicks off its season with a doubleheader on Sunday against Southern (0-1) and Rice (2-1). This team showed a lot of promise in the fall and is eager to get back on the courts to showcase what they can do.
Originally, the team was set to open spring with a tough match against No. 20 Arizona State, but due to a positive COVID-19 case just a few days before, it was ultimately cancelled. Senior Eden Richardson wasn’t too concerned about the missed opportunity and had a positive outlook given the situation.
“We were all ready to play last weekend,” Richardson said. “We carried on training this week and now we’re really ready to go.”
Richardson will play an important role for the team this season, being in the usual starting lineup for singles and headlining the team’s doubles duos, with her and her teammate, Nina Geissler, coming in at No. 14 in ITA’s official doubles rankings. She is excited about the ranking and feels no pressure.
“We’re both very happy and think that we can get higher,” Richardson said. “I don’t want to say we feel any pressure. It’ll actually be nice when we get to play teams that are ranked higher than us.”
Along with their top-15 duo, the team has two singles players that also cracked the standings and then some, with Sophomore Safiya Carrington clearing the top-100 to reach No. 83 and senior Taylor Bridges coming in at No. 41. Bridges has consistently ranked around that spot, constantly being put against their opponents’ best and maintaining her success.
“I’m definitely proud of the ranking but of course I would love to move higher,” Bridges emphasized. “Each and every practice and competition, I’m thinking about ‘How can I improve?’ and ‘How can I keep moving up?’”
While she would love to move up in the rankings, that is not her only goal by a long shot. Bridges looks to take on a leadership role in an attempt to improve the team as a whole, rather than just focusing on her individual improvement.
“For me personally, because I’m a senior now, [my goal] is to move into more of a leadership role, try to show the girls how our culture is and hold everyone to the highest standard,” Bridges said.
LSU faces the difficult challenge of improving upon both a solid 10-3 record last season and an impressive showing in the fall. Despite this, they don’t seem fazed, as they are focused on the competition aspect of the season and not the pressure.
“We all just want to go out there, have good results, compete hard and win matches,” Bridges explained. “Just pushing each other and holding each other accountable will do that.”
The Tigers will begin Sunday with their match against Rice at 12:00 PM and finish the weekend against Southern at 5:00 PM. They will look to begin the season with a pair of strong victories.
