NEW ORLEANS – After battling through a regular season while being short-handed at times, the University of New Orleans men's tennis team (8-8, 2-3 Southland) will set their sights on the Southland Tournament and their first round opponent, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (15-8, 4-1) on Saturday in Nacogdoches, Texas.
The Privateers concluded the season with a comeback win over Xavier.
Nicolas Kramer,
Karim Shokeir, and
Gonzalo Garcia each rallied from a set down in singles to help vault UNO into the conference tournament on a high note. Garcia picked up his 10
th win of the spring in singles, which leads the Privateers.
Garcia, the only senior on the roster and All-Southland honorable mention in singles, has gone 3-0 in three-set matches this season. Shokeir was not available for the first match-up against the Islanders due to injury and UNO was forced to play with just five players. Shokeir will be available for Saturday as UNO will face the challenge of a perennial power in the Southland.
The Islanders have made the NCAA tournament in six of the last eight years. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has only lost four matches against Southland schools while under the guidance of Coach Steve Moore since 2007.
UNO has found a steady rotation after a couple of shifts earlier in the season. Freshman,
Jeffrey Hsu has been playing No. 1 singles throughout the season while
Giacomo Adoncecchi has been in the No. 2 spot and Garcia has manned the No. 3 position.
Luis Albuquerque saw his fast start to the spring quickly move him up to No. 4. Kramer and Shokeir have settled in the No. 5 and 6 slot respectively.
The Islanders garnered eight All-Southland honors and saw Ricardo Mayagoitia earn a First Team selection after going unblemished (4-0) in Southland matches. Three players made the Second Team as the Islanders combined for a collective 82-33 mark in singles. Mayagoitia is on a 12-match winning streak entering the weekend.
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