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LSU Tigers Women's Tennis Elevates Chris Simpson to Associate Head Coach

Originally posted on LSU Tigers on SI | By Zack Nagy | Last updated Aug 15, 2025 8:00 AM ET

BATON ROUGE, La. – Assistant Coach Chris Simpson has been promoted to Associate Head Coach of the LSU Women’s Tennis program, Head Coach Taylor Fogleman announced today.

“We are thrilled for Chris on this honor,” said Head Coach Taylor Fogleman. “Since returning to Baton Rouge after his playing days with the men’s tennis team, Chris has been a valuable asset to our program.

"He consistently represents LSU in a first-class manner, and I look forward to many more great experiences and successful seasons together.”

On the court, Simpson aided the Tigers to a 24-8 overall record for the 2024-25 season.

In his third year as assistant coach, the former LSU Men’s Tennis standout has played a pivotal role in the program’s recruiting success.

His efforts have helped bring in a strong freshman class featuring Cadence Brace, Kayla Cross, and Tilwith Di Girolami, as well as the upcoming class of Carolina Kuhl, Addison Lanton, Alexia Marginean, and Ioana Sava.

Coach Simpson builds a strong relationship with the players and aids the head coach in preparing the team for matchdays.

Simpson helped lead the Tigers to a program-tying best for 24 overall season wins and a program-best 10 regular-season SEC wins.

The Tigers also reached the NCAA Regional for the 26th time overall, reaching the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in program history.

In his first three seasons with the program, Simpson has guided his players to six All-American honors, including Brace earning singles and doubles recognition and Cross earning doubles honors this year.

Furthermore, Simpson has coached six All-SEC athletes, highlighted most recently by Brace earning SEC Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-SEC honors, while Cross featured on the All-SEC Second Team, with the pair also being named to the All-SEC Freshman Team.

The Buzz: LSU Tennis Adds German Star

LSU women’s tennis head coach Taylor Fogleman announced today the signing of 20-year-old German native Carolina Kuhl, joining the Tigers for the 2025-26 season.

Kuhl becomes the fourth signing in the freshman class under Coach Fogleman, joining Addison Lanton, Alexia Marginean, and Ioana Sava.

Hailing from Germany, Kuhl is currently ranked No. 608 in singles and No. 681 in doubles, according to the WTA. In 2024, she reached her career highs of No. 391 (Nov. 11) in singles and 617 (Dec. 2) in doubles. Kuhl is currently ranked No. 53 in the German women’s tennis rankings.

“We are thrilled Carolina will be joining us this upcoming season,” said Head Coach Taylor Fogleman. “She had an incredible junior career, having played all of the junior grand slams, and has had an incredibly fast start to her young professional career as well.

"We firmly believe her best tennis is ahead of her and will work tirelessly with her in that vein. As tenacious a competitor as she is on court, she is one of the more humble, soft-spoken young ladies you will meet. Tiger Nation will enjoy watching her compete!”

On the junior ITF circuit, Kuhl competed in all four of the Junior Grand Slam events, reaching the singles quarterfinals of the junior Australian Open and the doubles final of the junior US Open.

Before embarking on her professional journey, Kuhl held an ITF junior ranking of No. 31, winning six singles and three doubles titles from 2019 to 2023.

After her juniors stint, Kuhl earned the singles crown three consecutive times in 2023 at the W15 Gdansk, W25 Troisdorf, and W15 Poertschach, while earning a doubles title in 2022 at the W15 Cairo.

In 2025, Kuhl, most recently, reached the W35 Mohammedia singles final in July, while making doubles semifinal appearances at the W15 Alaminos in March and the W35 Darmstadt in July.