New Orleans - The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team flexed their muscle early and got outstanding performances across the board in a 3-0 weekend at the Scramble on the Bayou at the University Tennis Center.
DAY ONE
With a team of mostly returners from last season, Coach Kanga employed different teams over the two matches. The one team that did not change was
Lea Alguacil and
Claudette Gilhespie. The sophomore and junior combined for two wins including a rally from 5-2 down to defeat Prairie View A&M's third tandem 7-6 (7-2).
Ank Vullings made her Privateer debut after having to sit out last season due to injury. In her first collegiate matches, Vullings teamed with
Mar Gendra for a 6-1 win against Jackson State. Later in the day in singles, Vullings won her match at number three 6-0, 7-5.
It was part of a clean sweep for the ladies in singles against the Panthers. All six players won their matches in straight sets. That included a 6-0, 6-0 victory by Gilhespie while playing at number two singles.
DAY TWO
The Privateers had another strong day on the court during a weekend where court temperatures surpassed 100 degrees. It started with a doubles point against Nicholls with wins at flight two and three. Gilhespie and Alguacil engineered their third win as a tandem on the weekend to help vault New Orleans to the opening point against the Colonels.
New Orleans had another great showing in singles winning all six matches. Flights three through six were done in straight sets. The top two flights went to a third set. Vullings outlasted her opponent 10-7 in the final set and Gilhespie played what turned out to be a prelude to her match later in the day. Gilhespie played to an 11-9 third set victory to cap the sweep against the Tigers.
In singles against Nicholls, the Privateers won five matches.
Trang Dao won her first set easy but Stephanie Barnett rallied to take the second set. Dao was resilient though rallying from 8-6 down in the third set to win. Gilhespie then put together another three-set thriller, taking the final by an identical 11-9 score line as she had earlier in the day.
FROM COACH KANGA
"Claudette is a player who can win on any court. She played number one earlier and she was 6-0 this weekend."
"Across the board in these matches, the difference was we came through in that third set. It comes back to conditioning and the mental part of the game. Under these conditions, I was really pleased that we never gave up."
"TK is so gifted and she's a good presence at one. Ank played really well and found a way. I think as we move on the players like Salma, Yurina, Lea, and Mar all played well. I think we have room for improvement but the most important thing is we have to maintain and be smart with how we train."
NEW ORLEANS-7 JACKSON STATE-0
DOUBLES
1- Lucia Solis/Melissa Ariza (JSU) def.
Trang Dao/
Yurina Asai 7-5
2-
Ank Vullings/
Mar Gendra (UNO) def. Oni Jones/Lily Zhang (JSU) 6-1
3-
Lea Alguacil/
Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) def. Nina Zhang/Ariel Dickson (JSU) 7-5
SINGLES
1-
Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) def. Nina Zhang (JSU) 2-6, 6-1, 11-9
2-
Ank Vullings (UNO) def. Lucia Solis (JSU) 1-6, 6-2, 10-7
3-
Mar Gendra (UNO) def. Oni Jones (JSU) 6-2, 6-1
4-
Salma Abdelrahim (UNO) def. Lily Zhang (JSU) 7-5, 7-5
5-
Yurina Asai (UNO) def. Melissa Ariza (JSU) 6-0, 6-2
6-
Lea Alguacil (UNO) def. Ariel Dickson (JSU) 6-2, 6-2
NEW ORLEANS-7 PRAIRIE VIEW A&M-0
DOUBLES
1-
Trang Dao/
Mar Gendra (UNO) def. Neharika Rama/Constanza Aranguiz (PVAMU) 7-5
2-Jessica Lackey/Mahogani Green (PVAMU) def.
Salma Abdelrahim/
Ank Vullings (UNO) 6-3
3-
Lea Alguacil/
Claudette Gilhespie def. PVAMU 7-6 (7-2)
SINGLES
1-
Trang Dao (UNO) def. Neharika Rama (PVAMU) 6-1, 6-1
2-
Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) def. Constanza Aranguiz (PVAMU) 6-0, 6-0
3-
Ank Vullings (UNO) def. Jimena Duran-Castellanos (PVAMU) 6-0, 7-5
4-
Mar Gendra (UNO) def. Jessica Lackey (PVAMU) 6-0, 6-1
5-
Salma Abdelrahim (UNO) def. Mahogani Green (PVAMU) 6-2, 6-3
NEW ORLEANS-6 NICHOLLS-1
DOUBLES
1-Stephanie Barnett/Marina Vigil (NICH) def.
Trang Dao/
Mar Gendra (UNO) 6-4
2-
Ank Vullings/
Yurina Asai (UNO) def. Antonia Roessli/Mariia Kozachok (NICH) 6-1
3-
Claudette Gilhespie/
Lea Alguacil (UNO) def. Lingfeng Gu/Daphne Haverkamp (NICH) 6-3
SINGLES
1-
Trang Dao (UNO) def. Stephanie Barnett (NICH) 6-0, 5-7, 10-8
2-
Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) def. Mariia Kozachok (NICH) 6-1, 2-6, 11-9
3-
Ank Vullings (UNO) def. Lingfeng Gu (NICH) 6-2, 6-1
4-Marina Vigil (NICH) def.
Mar Gendra (UNO) 6-2, 7-6 (9-7)
5-
Yurina Asai (UNO) def. Antonia Roessli (NICH) 6-2, 6-0
6-
Lea Alguacil (UNO) def. Daphne Haverkamp (NICH) 6-4, 6-1
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