NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers men's tennis team found out their opponent on Monday evening for the first round of the NCAA Tennis Championships. As the brackets were revealed, New Orleans (16-6) is slated to play the defending national champion and #2 overall seed, Florida Gators.
Time and date for the match will be announced soon.
The Privateers won their first ever Southland Championship when they knocked off the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 4-3 at the Privateer Tennis Center in the final. The Privateers rallied from down 3-2 with wins from
Matthew Armbruster who came back from down a service break in the third set and
Max Heinzel who won Southland Tournament MVP.
In 2022, the Privateers had several distinctions. They got out to their best start (8-0) in program history to begin the season. They also earned their first Southland Player of the Year when
Marcel Volz won the award.
This year, the Privateers were 8-3 at home and 8-3 on the road. They also played three nationally ranked opponents in Louisiana, LSU and Rice.
New Orleans, who won a share of the regular season Southland title, swept UIW 4-0 in the semifinals which set the stage for a final that saw two rain delays and many momentum shifts before the Privateers ultimately ended up hoisting the title on a humid Monday morning.
FROM COACH KANGA
"In my 16 years of coaching this is all new but what a great moment it is for this university. We experienced it with the basketball team a few years ago and we've been so close before. Some of it is still hitting us each day."
"I came here at 19 years old and now as a coach and I think to myself what this city and university has meant to me. And the real joy I'm getting is with these players having an opportunity to experience something so special. This year is just a total team effort and there are a lot of joyous emotions."
"This matchup is David and Goliath, and we have nothing to lose. We're playing in their backyard and they're the defending champions. If the talent level is good, whoever shows up to play and executes their game plan can win. I've told these guys don't fear anyone you step out onto that court with."
SOCIAL MEDIA
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