New Orleans - The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team will have a two-match weekend in Florida starting on Friday against the North Florida Ospreys. On Saturday, the Privateers will square off against the Flagler Saints. Both matches are slated for a 10 a.m. start.
New Orleans (0-1) lost their season opener against crosstown foe, Tulane last Sunday at City Park. This weekend, the Privateers will be playing shorthanded with just five available players.
Lea Alguacil injured her hamstring and is not available for the weekend.
"These are going to be two tough matches," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "I think we can play with a lot of teams this year. We got outplayed against Tulane, but if we're going to go anywhere we need to play strong teams. We're shorthanded, and it's a tough spot to be in but we'll be okay."
This weekend continues a road heavy schedule for the Privateers' 2018 spring campaign. 13 of the Privateers' 21 matches this season are on the road.
In the season opener, three singles matches went unfinished.
Trang Dao was on the verge of taking the second set.
Yurina Asai was in the third set of her singles match. Alguacil also won the first set of her singles match.
North Florida went to the NCAA tournament last year as the Atlantic Sun postseason champion. The Ospreys finished with a 15-9 mark overall and a 4-1 record in A-Sun play. The Ospreys return five players off their conference championship winning team, including Rafaela Gomez who was 23-10 overall in singles and 14-6 in dual play.
Flagler's results will not count against the Privateers and Ospreys. Both are exhibitions for the Division II school based in St. Augustine, Fla. The Saints will officially open their season on Feb. 3 against Nova Southeastern. In the fall, Lizanne Jinkertz advanced to the semifinals of the A draw at the ITA Southeast Regional in October.
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@PrivateersTN on Twitter,
@UNOPrivateers on Instagram, like
/NewOrleansTennis on Facebook and subscribe to the
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