Gators Women’s Tennis Travels to No. 4 LSU for Road Matchup

On Thursday, the No. 23 Florida Women’s Tennis Team (7-2, 2-1) will travel to Baton Rouge to face No. 4 LSU (8-3, 1-2). Florida is coming off two conference victories last week, including a 4-0 sweep of No. 60 Arkansas and a 4-3 win over No. 11 Oklahoma.

 The Gators will put their three-match winning streak on the line against the Tigers. As of March 3rd, Florida now has six nationally ranked players in singles, that being Gabia Paskaukas (No. 26), Nikola Daubnerova (No. 72), Valery Gynina (No. 76), Emily Seibold (No. 84), Lucie Pawlak (No. 88), and India Houghton (No. 103). In doubles, the duo of Daubnerova and Xinyi Nong are ranked No. 19 in the country.

As for the opponent, LSU is 1-2 in conference play this season and is coming off a 4-0 loss to No. 1 Georgia on Saturday. The Tigers have earned ranked wins over No. 6 UCLA (4-1), No. 7 Tennessee (4-0), No. 9 NC State (4-2) and No. 11 South Carolina (4-1).

LSU has four players ranked nationally in singles: No. 52 Candace Brace, No. 65 Kayla Cross, No. 118 Kenna Erickson and No. 120 Kinaa Graham. In doubles, Ella McDonald is part of two nationally ranked duos , paired No. 9 with Cross and No. 65 alongside Erickson.

Florida has historically dominated the series against LSU, holding a 51-4 all-time record, though the Tigers took a 4-2 decision on April 11 of last year. 

Last time out, Florida edged No. 11 Oklahoma 4-3 on Saturday, Feb. 28 to extend their winning streak to three matches, including two in conference play. Lucie Pawlak clinched the match with a three-set win at No. 5 singles, topping Salakthip Ounmuang 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

The match is set for Thursday, March 5 at 6 p.m. ET at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge.

Category: Gators Tennis