NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans men's tennis team became the first team to clinch a berth in the 2013 Southland Conference tennis tournament following a 5-2 win over Lamar on Sunday afternoon at the University Tennis Center.
UNO improved to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the Southland with the victory, their third in a row. In addition to securing a berth in the league's annual postseason tournament to be held Apr. 26-27 in Beaumont, Texas, the Privateers are assured a winning league record.
“We have taken the first step in putting ourselves in the position that we would like to be in,” said UNO head coach
Burzis Kanga. “I am happy that we are one of the top four teams, but we want to go into the rest of these conference matches with the mindset that we are still playing for the No. 1 spot.”
“We still have a long way to go and we're not taking anything for granted.”
Ricardo Campos,
Abdelrahman Zaki and
Hossam Meligy factored into a pair of victories apiece for the Privateers against LU (1-9, 0-1 SLC).
Campos and Meligy teamed for an 8-2 win at the No. 1 doubles' court against Rob Lee and Steve McMullan. In singles' play, both players were straight-set winners with Campos defeating Carl Philip Lindqvist at the No. 2 position while Meligy topped McMullan on the No. 4 court.
Zaki's wins on the day came in an 8-6 win alongside
Vinay Kamineni at the No. 2 doubles' court before the senior rolled Bruno Snyder in straight sets at the No. 3 position in singles' play.
The Privateers also picked up wins from the doubles' tandem of
Rui Silva and
David Malmgren at the No. 3 court, in addition to a singles' victory from
Lovro Curcija. Silva and Malmgren were partnering for the first time this spring while Curcija is now 3-0 in Southland play at the No. 6 position.
“The season is early and we have a big match against South Alabama this Wednesday,” said Kanga. “That match plus upcoming duals against Southern Miss and Troy are tough, but will also tell us a lot about the direction we need to go in order to be successful.”
Next for the Privateers is the South Alabama match on Wednesday, with first serve scheduled for 1 p.m. The dual is a make-up of a previously postponed dual from Jan. 30.
New Orleans 5, Lamar 2
2/24/2013 at New Orleans, La. (University Tennis Ctr)
Singles competition
1. Rob Lee (LU) def.
Rui Silva (UNO) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
2.
Ricardo Campos (UNO) def. CarlPhilip Lindqvist (LU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-1)
3.
Abdelrahman Zaki (UNO) def. Bruno Snyder (LU) 6-4, 6-1
4.
Hossam Meligy (UNO) def. Steven McMullan (LU) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
5. Mikko Rajamaki (LU) def.
Guillermo Aylon (UNO) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4)
6.
Lovro Curcija (UNO) def. Trey Crysel (LU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1.
Hossam Meligy/
Ricardo Campos (UNO) def. Rob Lee/Steven McMullan (LU) 8-2
2.
Abdelrahman Zaki/
Vinay Kamineni (UNO) def. Mikko Rajamaki/Bruno Snyder (LU) 8-6
3.
Rui Silva/
David Malmgren (UNO) def. Trey Crysel/CarlPhilip Lindqvist (LU) 8-4
