NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team (2-0) starts a stretch that features mainly in-state competition against the Tulane Green Wave (3-0) on Saturday at City Park. The match is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start.
The Privateers enjoyed a perfect start to the spring by winning two matches by 7-0 margins over Florida A&M and Jacksonville State. In the process, New Orleans only dropped two sets in 12 singles matches on the weekend.
It marked the third time in the last four seasons, the women's tennis program opened the spring by winning the first two matches. The Privateers will be searching for the first 3-0 start since the 2002-03 season.
Hafsa Laraibi helped lead the pair of clean sweeps on the weekend and was named Southland Player of the Week for her opening to the season. Laraibi went 4-0 between singles and doubles and only dropped four games in her two singles matches, both at the 6 position.
The Green Wave come in also unblemished in the early portion of the dual season. Tulane has earned narrow wins over Akron and Penn State in Ohio. In their first home match, the Green Wave defeated Southland foe, Nicholls 4-1. In the overall series, Tulane has won 10 of 11 duals against the Privateers.
Tulane has four returners from last season, including the trio of Meredith Maltby, Jacqui Katz, and Ipek Birol who all posted double digit wins in 2013-14. Birol is 3-0 in her singles matches in spring, all while playing at the 2 position. In doubles, Birol has partnered with Katz to go 2-0 to start the year.
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