Dao Extends Unbeaten Streak In Women's Tennis 6-1 Loss To Central Arkansas

BOX SCORE (PDF)

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans women's tennis team concluded its road schedule on Saturday afternoon in Conway, Arkansas, falling to Central Arkansas 6-1.

In the loss, sophomore Trang Dao won at the top singles position 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, extending her current unbeaten streak in singles play to 11 matches. Over the 11-match span, the reigning Southland Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week has won 10 times with one contest going unfinished due to the overall match being decided.

"We played a good Central Arkansas team today," head coach Burzis Kanga said. "Anna [Segarra Rius] did not make the trip, which caused the bottom half of our rotation to play up a spot. I thought that given the situation we did well and were competitive in most matches."

Central Arkansas (16-5, 5-2 Southland) won on courts one and two in doubles play to take the point. New Orleans (13-7, 5-4 Southland) won at the third doubles position, with Dao and sophomore Brittany Johnson prevailing 6-1.

In singles play, UCA took straight-set wins on courts three, four and six to win the overall contest. Senior Yasmine Rashad put up a competitive opening set at the fourth position, losing 7-5, 6-1, while freshman Claudette Gilhespie's attempt at forcing a third set on court three came up short in a 6-4, 7-6 setback.

Both junior Anja Luethi and Johnson lost their opening sets on courts two and five, but rallied back to force a third using a strong second stanza. Luethi overcame a 3-6 setback with a 6-4 second-set win, but lost her third frame 6-2 while Johnson won her second set with a commanding 6-1 score only to drop the finale 3-6.

UNO ends the 2017 regular season at home with Sam Houston State coming to the University Tennis Center on Friday, April 14, followed by a match against Lamar the following day.
 
Central Arkansas 6, New Orleans 1
 
Singles competition
1. Trang Dao (UNO) def. Pornpawee Pramethong (UCA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
2. Hee-Jin Oh (UCA) def. Anja Luethi (UNO) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
3. QiLi Ma (UCA) def. Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) 6-4, 7-6
4. Amiru Shimoguchi (UCA) def. Yasmine Rashad (UNO) 7-5, 6-1
5. Marli Van Heerden (UCA) def. Brittany Johnson (UNO) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
6. Rada Manataweewat (UCA) def. Paula Garriga (UNO) 6-1, 6-1
 
Doubles competition
1. Pornpawee Pramethong/Hee-Jin Oh (UCA) def. Yurina Asai/Anja Luethi (UNO) 6-3
2. QiLi Ma/Rada Manataweewat (UCA) def. Claudette Gilhespie/Yasmine Rashad (UNO) 6-4
3. Trang Dao/Brittany Johnson (UNO) def. Marli Van Heerden/Amiru Shimoguchi (UCA) 6-1