Men's Tennis Tops Defending Southland Champ Lamar at Jerry Simmons Invite

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BATON ROUGE, La. - The New Orleans Privateers men's tennis team knocked off defending Southland champion, Lamar on Day One of the Jerry Simmons Invitational to cap a 1-1 day. The Privateers lost in their first match of the day to Georgia State.
 
GEORGIA STATE-4 NEW ORLEANS-0
The match started with singles and three matches went into the third set. The Panthers earned wins at flight one, four, and six in straight sets. At flight five, Nicolas Kramer, who played a big role later in the day, forced a third set at flight five. However, Andrei Duarte won the third set to earn the clinching point for Georgia State.
 
NEW ORLEANS-4 LAMAR-3
The Privateers were triumphant in their return to the courts in Baton Rouge later in the day when they outlasted the Cardinals 4-3. It started with earning the doubles point as the Privateers executed victories at flight one and three.
 
Mats Westkamp and Misha Fomenkov were first off the court in doubles with a 6-3 victory. The tandem of Johannes Klein and Samuel Armand followed close behind with a win by the same score line to give the Privateers the doubles point.
 
In singles, it was a back and forth battle. The Privateers were victorious at flight three with Klein and flight six with Armand. The Cardinals won flights one, two, and four to set up the deciding point at flight five. Kramer ultimately decided it for Coach Burzis Kanga's crew. He and opponent, Arthur Serafim traded 6-2 set victories to set up the match clinching third set. His tiebreak victory ensured the win.
 
FROM COACH KANGA
"The problem in the Georgia State match is we're not finishing things. We went into three matches that were all in the third set. We still have work to do but I thought overall it was a good performance against a tough Georgia State team."
 
"We won the doubles point against Lamar which was good for our confidence. It wound up going down to the wire. Sam won both of his matches and Johannes played well. And it was great to see Nico getting the deciding point. I do think if we're in the right place then we're a big threat to anyone."
 
NEXT UP
The Privateers will face either Nicholls or Louisiana for fifth place on Sunday at 12 p.m.
 
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