NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team could not withstand a late rally in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss against the Nicholls Colonels on Monday afternoon at the Privateer Tennis Center.
In a match that went into the early evening hours, it was the Colonels who came through for two big wins, one in a third set tiebreak and one with a late service break.
New Orleans got out to an early lead after prevailing in doubles. All three teams won across the board started by
Anastassia Kouchnareva and
Ksenia Reznitskaya who won 6-3. The flight one duo of
Laurie Barendse and
Tristanne Dechoux won 6-3. Also,
Didi Bredberg Canizares and
Raluca Puscas won 6-4.
In singles, Bredberg continued to build on her unbeaten streak. She cruised through the first set and won the first five games of the second set in a 6-1, 6-2 victory at flight one to give the Privateers a 2-0 lead.
However, Nicholls got on level terms with the next two matches to finish. Constanza Cruz was pushed to 40-40 in each of the first two sets while trying to serve out. She converted both points to win 6-4, 6-4 at flight four.
Carla Bouygues built an early lead in each of the first two sets with a double break in the first and a single break in the second. However, Bouygues had to hold off a late rally in each of those sets to hold on for a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory.
The Privateers went back ahead when Barendse earned an early service break in the third set to get a 3-1 lead. Barendse continued to stay the course and won her third set 6-3.
It came down to the last two matches to decide it. Hassan Dareen came through 7-5 in a back-and-forth tiebreak in the third set at flight three. The match ended when Laura Lopez came back from a break down in the third set to win the last three games for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will travel to McNeese on Friday and Lamar on Sunday.
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