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BEAUMONT, Texas – For the first time this season, the New Orleans men's tennis team was unable to close out a victory after winning the doubles' point, falling 4-2 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Southland Conference championship match on Sunday afternoon.
TAMUCC (17-7) won 4 of 5 completed singles' matches to rally from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat a UNO (11-11) squad which entered the match 11-0 this season when claiming the doubles' point.
The regular season champion Islanders fell behind 1-0 after the Privateer duo of
Abdelrahman Zaki and
Vinay Kamineni saved four match points during a dramatic 9-7 win at the No. 2 doubles' court.
Zaki and Kamineni held off the match points down 7-6 and used the momentum of their saves to capture the following two games for the victory, which improved the duo to 5-1 during the dual campaign and provided UNO with the doubles' point.
Rui Silva and
David Malmgren had partnered for an 8-6 win at the No. 3 position for the first Privateer doubles' victory.
“I thought we started off really well,” said UNO head coach
Burzis Kanga. “The doubles' point could have gone either way and somehow we pulled it out with Vinay and Zaki.”
“Rui and David played really well together at the No. 3 position and after we won the doubles' point, I thought the momentum was in our favor.”
When play turned to singles,
Ricardo Campos registered the lone UNO victory by getting past Gergo Weidinger 6-2, 6-2. The first match off the court, Campos briefly put the Privateers ahead 2-0 before TAMUCC reeled off consecutive wins at the No. 5, No. 4 and No. 1 courts to take a 3-2 advantage.
The Islanders then closed the match at the No. 3 court as Matt Westmoreland downed Kamineni 6-4, 5-0. It was the second dual win this season for TAMUCC over the Privateers, following a 5-1 result on Mar. 27 in San Antonio, Texas.
“We were runner-up and we took full advantage of competing in a conference this year,” said Kanga. “I am proud of the way we competed and I was really happy that we were able to put forth a good match after the challenge we faced in yesterday's semifinal win over Nicholls.”
“We played a team in Texas A&M-Corpus Christi that was dominating the conference and we gave them a run for their money. We were not necessarily outplayed, but in a tournament like this, the fresh legs Corpus had from not playing as grueling match the day before really played to their advantage. We learn from this and get ready for next year.”
Sunday's loss ended the season for UNO and the collegiate careers of seniors Campos, Kamineni,
Dominik Kardell, Meligy and Zaki. The Privateer men's tennis team will be joined by the remaining 13 sports at UNO as full members of the Southland Conference in 2013-14.
NOTES
UNO has earned runner-up honors twice in school history following Sunday's result. The Privateers previously finished as a runner-up in the 2003 Sun Belt Conference tournament to South Alabama…
Abdelrahman Zaki finished with a team-best 12-9 mark during the dual campaign followed by
Hossam Meligy (11-11) and
Rui Silva (8-12)… In doubles' play, Zaki and
Vinay Kamineni's 5-1 dual mark finished the season tops on the squad. Zaki paired with Silva for a 4-1 doubles' record.
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE MEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT BRACKET
(all matches held at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center in Beaumont, Texas)
Saturday, Apr. 27, 2013
#1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-0 #4 Lamar (Lamar eliminated)
#2 NEW ORLEANS 4-2 #3 Nicholls State (Nicholls eliminated)
Sunday, Apr. 28, 2013 – 11 a.m.
Championship Match – #1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-2. #2 NEW ORLEANS (New Orleans eliminated)
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi receives automatic bid to NCAA Division I Tournament
SUNDAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 4, New Orleans 2
4/28/2013 at Beaumont, Texas (Beaumont Municipal Tennis Ctr)
Singles competition
1. Peter Nagy (AMCC) def.
Rui Silva (UNO) 6-2, 6-0
2.
Ricardo Campos (UNO) def. Gergo Weidinger (AMCC) 6-2, 6-2
3. Matt Westmoreland (AMCC) def.
Vinay Kamineni (UNO) 6-4, 6-0
4. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def.
Abdelrahman Zaki (UNO) 6-2, 6-1
5. Javier Pujol (AMCC) def.
Hossam Meligy (UNO) 6-4, 6-3
6. Andrew Maingot (AMCC) vs.
Lovro Curcija (UNO) 4-6, 4-0, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Peter Nagy/Gergo Weidinger (AMCC) def.
Hossam Meligy/
Ricardo Campos (UNO) 8-5
2.
Vinay Kamineni/
Abdelrahman Zaki (UNO) def. Andrew Maingot/Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) 9-7
3.
Rui Silva/
David Malmgren (UNO) def. Odon Barta/Pietro Jordao (AMCC) 8-6
Match Notes
New Orleans 11-11
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 17-7
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,4,5,1,3)
