Women's Tennis Tames Jackson State In 6-1 Victory

BOX SCORE (PDF)

JACKSON, Mississippi – The University of New Orleans women's tennis team took on Jackson State on Wednesday afternoon, besting the host Tigers with ease in a 6-1 victory.

"I was pleased with the way we played today," head coach Burzis Kanga said. "We had to move most of our lineup up a position since Anna Segarra Rius did not travel with us due to injury, and everyone rose up to the challenge. We were able to get the doubles point which set the pace for us in singles."

For the first time in a road match this season, New Orleans (11-4) headed into singles play with a 1-0 lead after posting 6-1 victories at the first and third doubles positions to claim the doubles point. Senior Yasmine Rashad and junior Anja Luethi paired up at the top flight for the first time this season, while sophomores Trang Dao and Brittany Johnson played on the third court. Freshmen Claudette Gilhespie and Yurina Asai played at the second position in an unfinished match.

Luethi continued her dominance over Jackson State (7-2) in singles action with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at the second position, with Johnson following shortly with a 6-2, 6-0 triumph at the fifth flight. Rashad clinched the match for the Privateers with a 6-2, 6-2 win on court four, before JSU got their lone point of the afternoon via a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Asai on the sixth court.

The final two matches to end were on courts one and three. Dao playing at the top flight, lost her opening set 5-7, but rallied back in the sequel 6-3 and followed up with a 10-3 victory in the pro-style set. Gilhespie won her opener 6-1 and withstood a late rally from her JSU counterpart in a 7-5 second set triumph.

The Privateers return to the University Tennis Center on Friday, Mar. 31 when they take on Middle Tennessee at 2 p.m. to start a four-match homestand.
 
New Orleans 6, Jackson State 1
 
Singles competition
1. Trang Dao (UNO) def. Tyler Smith (JSU) 5-7, 6-3, 10-3
2. Anja Luethi (UNO) def. Chloe Dredge (JSU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) def. Lucia Solis (JSU) 6-1, 7-5
4. Yasmine Rashad (UNO) def. Nina Zhang (JSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Brittany Johnson (UNO) def. Ariel Dickson (JSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Daria Butorina (JSU) def. Yurina Asai (UNO) 6-3, 6-4
 
Doubles competition
1. Anja Luethi/Yasmine Rashad (UNO) def. Ariel Dickson/Oni Jones (JSU) 6-1
2. Lucia Solis/Tyler Smith (JSU) vs. Claudette Gilhespie/Yurina Asai (UNO) unfinished
3. Trang Dao/Brittany Johnson (UNO) def. Nina Zhang/Daria Butorina (JSU) 6-1