New Orleans - The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team (4-4, 0-1 Southland) returns to the court at home on Thursday afternoon when they take on the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (0-9). The match is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start at the University Tennis Center.
New Orleans looks to bounce back after a 5-2 loss in their conference opener against McNeese. The Privateers will have another conference match following in short order when they take on Southeastern in Hammond this Saturday.
"We need to be ready like every match," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "It doesn't matter what the record is. It's very simple. We have to be mentally and physically ready to play this game. This will be a good match to get us ready for Southeastern on Saturday."
The doubles tandem of
Trang Dao and
Anja Luethi have been strong for the Privateers this spring. Dao and Luethi are 4-1. Also, the recent pairing of
Yurina Asai and
Claudette Gilhespie has engineered a 3-0 mark at number two doubles. The sophomore tandem kept up their momentum with a win in doubles against McNeese.
In singles, Luethi has racked up six wins this spring. Dao won her first conference match in singles against Giovanna Fioretti who was Conference Freshman of the Year two seasons ago. Asai and
Lea Alguacil each have a 5-2 mark in singles.
Thursday will represent the last match for the Cougars before they dive into conference play. SIU-Edwardsville will open their Ohio Valley slate on Saturday, Mar. 17 against Jacksonville State. The Cougars are 0-1 against Southland foes this spring after suffering a 7-0 loss to Central Arkansas.
SIU-Edwardsville has a very young squad. Of their seven players, five are either freshmen or sophomores. The Cougars have been swept 7-0 in seven of their nine matches this season. SIUE took two matches in singles against Western Illinois in their first match of March.
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