NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team (8-5) was locked in a tight battle, but came on the short end of a 5-2 decision against the Bradley Braves (11-6) on Thursday afternoon at the University Tennis Center.
Salma Abdelrahim and
Brittany Johnson got doubles off to a dominant start for the Privateers. The flight two tandem swept the first six games to establish momentum for the home side's favor. New Orleans clinched the doubles point at flight one.
Trang Dao and
Ank Vullings battled back and forth and led 4-3. The duo then won a crucial break out of the changeover to put the match and the point on their racket. A hold of serve locked up the first point for Coach Kanga's bunch.
The Braves slowly gained the momentum back in singles after winning all four matches that went three sets. Sandra Maletin came back from losing the first set to win at flight one. The Braves leveled the score at 2-2 when Natalia Barbery won her third set at flight four.
Nina Marjanovic withstood a comeback attempt in the third set tiebreak from
Lea Alguacil. After falling behind 6-1 in the deciding game, Alguacil won the next four points but Marjanovic held on for a 7-5 win. Bradley closed the match at flight five with a 6-4 win in the third set.
Vullings won the lone singles point for the Privateers as she quickly finished off Bozana Lojpur. The freshman came back from an early 3-0 deficit in the first set and coasted in the second set.
The Privateers will have a quick turnaround when they face Marshall on Friday at home. The match is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.
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