NEW ORLEANS - The University of New Orleans women's tennis team fell one victory short of improving their record to 3-0 on the season with a narrow 5-4 loss to Middle Tennessee on Saturday morning at the University Tennis Center.
After dropping 2 of 3 doubles' matches, UNO (2-1) put forth a fight in singles' play to nearly defeat MT (3-1) for the first time in school history.
Needing to win 4 of 6 matches in singles' play, the Privateers and Blue Raiders wound up splitting the first four singles' matches off the court with play at the No. 2 and No. 4 positions continuing on to a third set.
In the clincher for MT, Flavia Nagayma rallied from a set down to defeat
Kristina Martic 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. With the result no longer in question, UNO's
Sofija Karalic completed in her own come from behind effort with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 win at No. 4 over Nayara Moraes.
Other winners in the dual for the Privateers were
Juliet Labarthe and
Fanny Benincasa at the No. 3 and No. 5 positions. Labarthe picked up a 6-2, 6-4 win over Lexi Brand with Benincasa rolling Marietta Bigus 6-2, 6-1.
The wins for Karalic, Labarthe and Benincasa improved their dual play record to 3-0.
In doubles' play, the lone UNO tandem to win was the pair of Benincasa and Labarthe, who ran their dual doubles' mark to 3-0 with an 8-5 win over the Blue Raiders' Taylor Coffey and Alex Dachos 8-5 at No. 3.
The Privateer women's tennis team will resume their schedule on Feb. 17 in a Gulf South Conference dual against West Florida at 11 a.m. The Argos were ranked No. 8 in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll.
Middle Tennessee 5, University of New Orleans 4
Feb 11, 2012 at New Orleans, La. (University Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Nomoto, Yuiri (MT) def.
Marta Sans (UNO-W) 6-1, 6-3
2. Nagayama, Flavia (MT) def.
Kristina Martic (UNO-W) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
3.
Juliet Labarthe (UNO-W) def. Brand, Lexi (MT) 6-2, 6-4
4.
Sofija Karalic (UNO-W) def. Moraes, Nayara (MT) 4-6, 6-3, 10-6
5.
Fanny Benincasa (UNO-W) def. Bigus, Marietta (MT) 6-2, 6-1
6. Coffey, Taylor (MT) def.
Andrea Martin (UNO-W) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Bigus, Marietta/Brand, Lexi (MT) def.
Marta Sans/
Manuela Gomez (UNO-W) 8-1
2. Moraes, Nayara/Nomoto, Yuiri (MT) def.
Kristina Martic/
Sofija Karalic (UNO-W) 8-2
3.
Fanny Benincasa/
Juliet Labarthe (UNO-W) def. Dachos, Alex/Coffey, Taylor (MT) 8-5
