Box Score NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team (7-1, 1-0 SLC) swept the board in doubles and got three singles wins in a 4-3 victory over the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks (2-4, 0-1) on Friday afternoon.
The day started on a strong note with the doubles lineup controlling matters.
Trang Dao and
Ank Vullings put together a strong performance to win 6-2 at flight one.
Brittany Johnson and
Salma Abdelrahim followed, winning by a service break at flight two (6-4).
Claudette Gilhespie and
Lea Alguacil also won 6-4 at flight three.
"We're always pleased with a win," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "I thought the way we played in doubles was very encouraging. We started on a good note and then Salma and Lea were in total control. With Claudette I told her to stick to her game plan. And the way she won the first set that gave me a lot of encouragement. Kudos to her for playing the way she did to get the deciding point."
New Orleans earned the first two singles points with straight set victories by Alguacil and Abdelrahim. At flight six, Alguacil dropped only three games in her win. Abdelrahim also won in convincing fashion 6-3, 6-4 to put New Orleans on the brink of victory.
Stephen F. Austin fought back with the next two points. Darinka Tiboldi won in straight sets at flight two and Gabi Guilarte followed with a three-set victory at flight one to push the game score to 3-2.
The Privateers were not to be denied and that was thanks to Gilhespie who sealed the match. The junior won a hard-fought tiebreak 7-6 (9-7) over senior, Kaja Ljubic. Gilhespie parlayed that momentum into the second set where she won 6-2 to give the Privateers the victory. Stephen F. Austin won the last match to finish at flight five (2-6, 7-5, 10-7).
There is a schedule change that was officially announced on Friday night. The match in Huntsville against the Sam Houston State Bearkats has been moved up to Saturday. The Bearkats are 5-3 on the spring and played Nicholls on Friday in their conference opener. This season, Sam Houston State has wins over UTRGV, Prairie View A&M, UTSA, Louisiana Tech, and Louisiana.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@PrivateersTN on Twitter,
@UNOPrivateers on Instagram, like
/NewOrleansTennis on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
