NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Privateers men's tennis team (4-5) returns to the court for a two-match weekend beginning on Saturday against the Loyola Wolfpack. New Orleans will follow with a bout against Prairie View A&M on Sunday. Both matches are at the University Tennis Center.
It was another three-match weekend for the Privateers in their most recent spell of matches. New Orleans went 2-1 with victories against Alcorn State and Jackson State. The weekend finished with a loss in their home opener against UTSA.
In the UTSA match,
Misha Fomenkov was giving Kai Brietbach, the 66
th ranked singles player in the nation, everything he could handle. Fomenkov won the first set and was in the midst of rallying back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set when the overall dual was decided.
"The beauty of this team right now is that Misha and Mats on any given day can play with the best," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "They both have the game to do so. We just have to take one match at a time. It should be an exciting weekend."
Prior to that, New Orleans defeated Alcorn State handily (6-1). The Privateers then came back and were pushed to the limit the next day, but they prevailed in a 4-3 decision over Jackson State.
Odysseas Papaioannou gained the winning point. The Privateers are 2-0 so far this season in matches decided by a 4-3 score line. They also defeated Lamar in that fashion at the Jerry Simmons Invitational.
"We've already played nine matches and certainly have played with some of the better teams in the country," said Kanga. "I think that if we compete as a team and put up a fight across the board, we're capable of upsetting some good teams."
Loyola opened their season with a 2-0 mark. In a Saturday doubleheader, the Wolfpack defeated Blue Mountain College 9-0 and Belhaven 8-1. After this weekend, the Wolfpack will begin conference play with three matches in the upcoming week.
Prairie View A&M is 0-10 to start their season. They have been swept in nine of those matches. The only point earned was against Baylor.
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