New Orleans - The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team (8-6, 2-3) returns home to the University Tennis Center to square off against the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Saturday. The match is set to begin at 2 p.m.
The Privateers scored a crucial conference win against Nicholls on Tuesday after dropping back-to-back matches last weekend. New Orleans won 5-2 with a strong performance in doubles that set the tone for the day.
Anja Luethi,
Yurina Asai,
Brittany Johnson, and
Mar Gendra all picked up singles wins in Thibodaux.
"We need to take advantage of this opportunity against Abilene Christian," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "We need to treat every match as one to qualify for the conference tournament."
With six matches remaining, the Privateers are in a log jam in the conference standings. New Orleans sits in a three-way tie for sixth with Abilene Christian and Southeastern. Four of the Privateers' remaining six matches are on the road. The only other opponent New Orleans will host this season is Central Arkansas.
New Orleans' doubles combinations have provided strong results this season. Luethi and
Trang Dao have been highly successful at the top flight. Asai and
Claudette Gilhespie have also provided solid results. Combined, the two duos are 15-4 this spring.
For Abilene Christian (8-7, 2-3) it's been a case of close calls lately in conference play. All three of the Wildcats' conference losses have come by 4-3 margins against Central Arkansas, Sam Houston State, and McNeese. The Wildcats have also performed better away from home. Six of their wins this season have come away from Abilene.
Whitney Williams leads the Wildcats in singles victories with 10. Williams has gone undefeated (4-0) against conference foes while playing mostly in flight two. Nini Memishishi has nine singles victories while floating between flights four, five, and six. Memishishi and teammate, Lucile Pothier are 9-1 in doubles.
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