HAMMOND, La. - The University of New Orleans women's tennis team
defeated a shorthanded Southeastern Louisiana squad 4-3 at the
Southeastern Tennis Complex on Monday afternoon.
UNO (8-7) was able to take advantage of a SLU (5-5) squad that entered the match with just five players, forcing the Lions to concede the No. 6 singles' and No. 3 doubles' matches.
The SLU tandem of Iva Velovska and Audrey Chelini started the dual with an 8-1 victory over
Cassandra Escobar and
Kozue Matsumoto on the No. 1 court. Escobar and Matsumoto entered the match on a 10-match winning streak which had pushed their spring record to 11-2.
With the walkover in hand, the doubles' point would come down to No. 2 court.
The deciding match would go to a tie-breaker with
Amber Garza and
Kir Kemp prevailing 9-8 (4) over Morgane Dadot and Ashley Longoria. With the victory, the recently formed Privateer doubles' team of Garza and Kemp improved to 2-0 together.
As the dual turned to singles and a walkover at No. 6, UNO needed just two victories in the five remaining matches to pull out the dual. Despite the odds against the Lions, they nearly pulled out the win, as they won on the top three courts.
Velkovska improved to 9-1 on the year and 71-12 for her career with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Kemp on the No. 1 court. Rounding out the SLU victories were a Chelini 6-7 (10), 7-5, 10-2 defeat of Escobar at No. 2 and a Dadot 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win at No. 3 over Matsumoto.
The Privateer wins came on the No. 4 and No. 5 courts as
Ceara Howey and
Amber Garza picked up victories. Howey defeated Longoria 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 while Garza won over Annika Hanke 7-6 (7), 6-4.
UNO will continue their season Thursday as they begin a two-match swing through northern Louisiana beginning with conference foe Louisiana-Monroe at 4 p.m.
University of New Orleans 4, Southeastern Louisiana 3
Mar 23, 2009 at Hammond, La. (Southeastern Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. Iva Velkovska (SLU) def.
Kir Kemp (UNOW) 6-4, 6-1
2. Audrey Chelini (SLU) def.
Cassandra Escobar (UNOW) 6-7 (10-12), 7-5, 10-2
3. Morgane Dadot (SLU) def.
Kozue Matsumoto (UNOW) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
4.
Ceara Howey (UNOW) def. Ashley Longoria (SLU) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
5.
Amber Garza (UNOW) def. Annika Hanke (SLU) 7-6 (9-7), 6-4
6.
Sofija Karalic (UNOW) def. No player (SLU), by walkover
Doubles competition
1. Audrey Chelini/Iva Velkovska (SLU) def.
Kozue Matsumoto/
Cassandra Escobar (UNOW) 8-1
2.
Amber Garza/
Kir Kemp (UNOW) def. Morgane Dadot/Ashley Longoria (SLU) 9-8 (7-4)
3.
Sofija Karalic/
Ceara Howey (UNOW) def. No player/No player (SLU), by walkover
