NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team (6-1) got off to a great start in doubles but couldn't make it hold up in a 4-3 loss to the Sam Houston State Bearkats (7-4) on Sunday at the University Tennis Center.
DOUBLES
The day got off to a great start for the Privateers as they secured the doubles point. After flight one went the Bearkats, New Orleans got a huge performance from
Ank Vullings and
Mar Gendra in a 6-3 win.
Lea Alguacil and
Claudette Gilhespie secured a single break in a 6-4 victory to give New Orleans the first point.
SINGLES
The Bearkats got two wins from flight five and six to start singles with both coming in straight sets. Another win by Isidora Zivkovic with a late break secured in the second set put the Bearkats ahead 3-1.
The win was sealed as Karla De La Luz Montalvo won a three-set battle 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to secure the victory for the road team.
New Orleans got the last two points at flight one and four. Vullings came back from losing the first set to beat defending Southland Player of the Year, Sahaja Yamalapalli who had come in 8-1 in singles play this season.
Gendra also won a three-set battle against Lusine Chobanyan. After winning the first set, Gendra had to come back from losing the second by a service break. The junior won 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to give the Privateers the last point.
FROM COACH KANGA
"This match could have gone either way. I was proud of the way they played as a team and it gave us a lot of confidence because this is a solid Sam Houston State team. Ank played a fabulous match and Mar played really well."
"We have to learn from this loss. We'll move forward and get ready for Central Arkansas and Northwestern State."
NEXT UP
The Privateers will travel to Conway to take on Central Arkansas on Friday, Mar. 6. The match gets going at 1 p.m.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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@PrivateersTN on Twitter,
@UNOPrivateers on Instagram, like
/NewOrleansTennis on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
