NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers men's tennis team was tested until the last match and wound up on the short end of a 4-3 decision against the Xavier (La.) Gold Rush on Monday afternoon at the University Tennis Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Privateers wrestled early momentum when they scored the doubles point.
Max Heinzel and
Akos Kotorman battled to a 6-4 victory at flight two. The freshman tandem of
Matthew Armbruster and
Dhruv Tangri gutted out a 7-5 decision to give New Orleans the first point of the day.
In singles, the Privateers and Gold Rush went back and forth until the end when the Gold Rush scored critical wins at flight one and three down the stretch to seal the victory.
After Xavier scored the first point in singles at flight four,
Luke Joujan came back with a resounding win at flight five to put the Privateers up 2-1.
With the Privateers trailing 3-2, Heinzel came up big as he raced out to a 5-2 lead in the third set. His opponent, Juan Ramirez got one of the breaks back but Heinzel remained firm in his next service game to close out the match.
It all came down to flight three where
Espen Lagarde had two match points. However, Megh Patel saved both and eventually carried the match to a third set which he won to give Xavier their 12
th win of the season.
FROM COACH KANGA
"They're a top five NAIA team every year and this is a very good team but it was a tough loss. Give credit where it's due. They played really well and executed today. The schedule only gets tougher for us."
NEXT UP
The Privateers will face South Alabama in Mobile on Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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