Women's Tennis Makes Statement With 6-1 Victory In Conference Opener

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans women's team went for its third-straight victory on Friday afternoon, extending their current streak with a 6-1 victory against Nicholls.

Senior Yasmine Rashad, junior Anja Luethi, sophomore Trang Dao and Brittany Johnson all went 2-0 on the day to help New Orleans (4-2, 1-0 Southland Conference) get the victory.

"All across the board we played well," head coach Burzis Kanga said. "At our top doubles position [Anja] Luethi has done a great job taking [Yurina] Asai under her wing and the two are playing great tennis together."

The Privateers claimed the doubles point with victories at the top two positions. The duo of Dao and Rashad cruised at the second doubles position, sweeping Mariia Kozachok and Changwei Wei of Nicholls (2-2, 0-1 Southland Conference) 6-0. Luethi and freshman Yurina Asai, playing at the top flight, bested Lingfeng Gu and Clemence Krug 6-4 to clinch the doubles point. Johnson and freshman Claudette Gilhespie trailed 4-5 on the third court before their match got called off.

In singles action, Dao made quick work of her Nicholls counterpart at the top slot 6-2, 6-2, with Johnson prevailing 6-3, 6-2 on court five to put UNO one game away from clinching the win. The Privateers got the match-clinching win at the sixth position, where Rashad outlasted Mastrippolito 7-5 in the first set before winning 6-1 in the second. Luethi and Segarra, playing on courts two and three, both won their opening sets 6-4 and completed their sweeps with scores of 6-2 and 6-1 respectively. The final contest to end was at the fourth position, where Gilhespie lost her first match of the spring 6-4, 6-2.

The Privateers hit the road for the first time this season on Friday, Mar. 3 when they travel to Lake Charles, Louisiana for a Southland Conference match against McNeese State at 2 p.m.
 
New Orleans 6, Nicholls 1
 
Doubles competition
1. Anja Luethi/Yurina Asai (UNO) def. Lingfeng Gu/Clemence Krug (NICH) 6-4
2. Trang Dao/Yasmine Rashad (UNO) def. Mariia Kozachok/Changwei Wei (NICH) 6-0
3. Brittany Johnson/Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) vs. Ambika Pande/Andrea Mastrippolito (NICH) 4-5, unfinished
 
Singles competition
1. Trang Dao (UNO) def. Lingfeng Gu (NICH) 6-2, 6-2
2. Anja Luethi (UNO) def. Clemence Krug (NICH) 6-4, 6-2
3. Anna Segarra Rius (UNO) def. Ambika Pande (NICH) 6-4, 6-1
4. Mariia Kozachok (NICH) def. Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) 6-4, 6-2
5. Brittany Johnson (UNO) def. Changwei Wei (NICH) 6-3, 6-2
6. Yasmine Rashad (UNO) def. Andrea Mastrippolito (NICH) 7-5, 6-1