NEW ORLEANS - The nationally-ranked University of New Orleans suffered their second straight loss, dropping to Louisiana-Lafayette 6-1 at the University Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
No. 75 UNO (6-2, 1-1 Sun Belt) got off to a slow start for the third straight dual when they lost the doubles' point to ULL (2-0, 1-0 SBC).
Calvin Kemp and Guilherme Rebolo on the No. 1 court were the lone winner of the doubles' play for the Privateers, defeating Bradley Bristow and Neil Schenider 8-5.
The other two courts provided close victories for the Ragin' Cajuns as head coach Burzis Kanga swapped his No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams for the first time this season in hopes of turning the tide at doubles. ULL's Piotr Banas and Yanick Mandl defeated Vinay Kamineni and Oliver Cuthill at No. 2 by a 9-7 score with the team of Javie Pulgar-Garcia and Arlen Domoney claiming the No. 3 match 8-6 over Ben Smith and Jose Gaspar.
In singles' play, the Ragin' Cajuns posted straight set victories to claim No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 singles. The 6-1, 6-2 victory by Domoney at No. 5 over Cuthill gave the New Zealander his first dual loss of the season. Cuthill is still 4-0 when playing No. 6.
UNO's Kamineni providing the lone victory for his team in singles' at No. 3. Kamineni, who suffered his first two losses on the year a week ago, bounced back with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Bristow as the native of Vizag, India played on the No. 3 court for the first time on the season.
The other two singles' matches saw Privateers fade in super-tiebreakers.
On the No. 1 court, Banas won 6-7, 6-4, 11-9 over Kemp. Kemp led in the super-tiebreaker 9-2 before Banas scored the match's last nine points to claim the super-tiebreaker. The defeat, Kemp's second straight on the year comes after he opened the season with six straight wins at No. 1 singles.
Gaspar was the other UNO player to meet defeat in a super-tiebreaker, falling 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 to Schneider at No. 6. Gaspar led 6-2 before dropping 8 of 9 points to close out the match in favor of the Ragin' Cajuns.
The next match for the men is a Feb. 17 dual on the road at Southern Mississippi set for a 2 p.m. start.
Louisiana-Lafayette 6, #75 University of New Orleans 1
Feb 15, 2009 at New Orleans, La. (University Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Banas, Piotr (ULL) def. Calvin Kemp (UNO) 6-7, 6-4, 11-9
2. Pulgar-Garcia, Javie (ULL) def. Guilherme Rebolo (UNO) 6-1, 6-1
3. Vinay Kamineni (UNO) def. Bristow, Bradley (ULL) 6-2, 6-2
4. Mandl, Yanick (ULL) def. Ben Smith (UNO) 6-0, 6-2
5. Domoney, Arlen (ULL) def. Oliver Cuthill (UNO) 6-1, 6-2
6. Schneider, Neil (ULL) def. Jose Gaspar (UNO) 6-3, 4-6, 10-7
Doubles competition
1. Calvin Kemp/Guilherme Rebolo (UNO) def. Bristow, Bradley/Schneider, Neil (ULL) 8-5
2. Banas, Piotr/Mandl, Yanick (ULL) def. Vinay Kamineni/Oliver Cuthill (UNO) 9-7
3. Domoney, Arlen/Pulgar-Garcia, Javie (ULL) def. Ben Smith/Jose Gaspar (UNO) 8-6
