NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers men's tennis team (6-7) starts their five-match conference journey with the Lamar Cardinals on Saturday in Beaumont. The match is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start at the Thompson Family Tennis Center.
Though it's the first conference match for both sides, the two teams have already seen each other this spring. New Orleans took a 4-3 decision over Lamar (5-13) at the Jerry Simmons Invitational in Baton Rouge.
Nicolas Kramer won the point that decided the match by taking a third set tiebreak over Arthur Serafim.
"We need to prove that we can compete in this conference," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "We can make a name if we can win on their home court. They're still the defending champions the last two years and we have to execute our game plan from beginning to end. The players know the significance of this match and they've been working hard."
The Privateers' most recent outing was against perhaps their toughest opponent of the year where they absorbed a 7-0 loss against nationally ranked Texas A&M. Of the 13 matches the Privateers have played to this point, only four have been at home.
The all-time series reflects the first meeting between the two teams. Since 1996, New Orleans and Lamar have met 18 times and they've split those meetings evenly. The Cardinals have won the last six matches against the Privateers.
In doubles this year,
Samuel Armand and
Johannes Klein have posted seven wins.
Misha Fomenkov and
Mats Westkamp have won six matches heading into this weekend.
Lamar has lost three of their last four matches heading into conference. The lone win in that span was against Bucknell. Axel Vila Antuna leads the way in singles victories with eight. Vila Antuna and Nicolas Mayr have combined for a 5-1 mark in doubles, all at flight one.
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