NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers started the day by winning the doubles point but fell just short in some hard fought singles matches in a 5-2 loss to the Troy Trojans on Sunday at the University Tennis Center.
The Privateers split the matches at the first two courts with Troy.
Trang Dao and
Ank Vullings won 6-2 at flight one while Troy's second tandem took a 6-0 win at flight two.
Claudette Gilhespie and
Lea Alguacil secured the first point of the day, winning by a break (6-4).
"It was a tough day," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "I'm hoping we can learn from this and move forward to South Alabama. It was a match we could have won but we need to do more work."
In singles, three matches went to three sets but Troy won two of them. The Trojans surged back in front by winning the first three matches to finish in straight sets. Maria Casas Blas, Matea Mihaljevic, and Pei Ju Hsieh won at flights six, one, and five respectively to push the Trojans to the brink of victory.
Troy clinched the match with the next point.
Salma Abdelrahim was up a set, but Chunxi Guo rallied back to take the next two sets and the victory. That handed New Orleans their first defeat and ended their longest winning streak to begin a season since 2003.
Vullings won the second point for New Orleans as the other two matches in progress played out to the finish. The freshman came back from down a set to win (5-7, 6-2, 6-4) at flight two. The Trojans also won at flight three with a come-from-behind three set victory.
The Privateers will hit the road for their final match before conference play starts. New Orleans will make the trip to Mobile to face the South Alabama Jaguars on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The match is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.
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