Women's Tennis Tops Louisiana Tech, Moves to 12-4

BOX SCORE

RUSTON, La. – The University of New Orleans women's tennis team (12-4, 5-3 Southland) got out to a fast start in doubles and Hafsa Laraibi earned the clinching point in a 4-2 win over the 73^th-ranked Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (13-5, 1-1 C-USA) on Tuesday at the La Tech Tennis Complex.
 
The win marked the first over an opponent that was in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings since 2002 when UNO defeated Tulane.
 
The Privateers asserted their will in doubles, especially at the No. 3 spot as Laraibi and Yasmine Rashad coasted to a 6-0 victory. At No. 1 doubles, Anja Luethi and Trang Dao raced out to a 3-1 lead and were able to close down the match by a 6-3 score after gaining early separation.
 
"I'm so happy for them because they deserved it," said Coach Burzis Kanga. "We played without Anna (Segarra), but this is a talented team and if they believe in what they're doing, they're capable of beating anyone on any given day. This was a great effort because they went there and executed. I couldn't be more proud of them."

In singles, Luethi had a quick start at No. 2 singles, winning the first three games in her first set, which wound up being the margin of victory.  Luethi won her match at 6-3, 6-2 to give UNO their second point after Louisiana Tech had wrapped up the first two matches to finish in singles.
 
With the score tied at 2-2, it was Rashad's turn: after grinding out a 6-4 first set win, Rashad defeated her opponent 6-2 in the second set to secure the point. That set up Laraibi who was playing at No. 4 on the day. After losing the first set 6-3, Laraibi kicked into high gear and defeated her opponent at 6-2, 6-2 over the next two sets to seal the victory.
 
UNO will next travel to Nicholls on April 8. The match is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
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