NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers men's and women's tennis teams both had solid showings in victories on Monday against Southern. The men's team took care of a shorthanded Southern squad 7-0. The women played with only five players but they swept the board otherwise in a 6-1 victory.
MEN'S RECAP
The men's team was facing a Southern squad that only had four available players so the Privateers were already up 2-0 before the match officially got underway.
Today it was all about the youth movement as four freshmen got to feature on the court.
Uwe Diehl and
Mark Armbruster got through their doubles match quickly to seal the point as they won 6-0. On court one it was a tussle as Barnabas Kalaba and Lwazi Ngwenya provided a stern test.
However,
Marc Mail and
Joseph Townes were resilient in the tiebreak as they won it 9-7 to finish off the doubles action.
In singles, three of the four matches were done in straight sets. Townes held off a belated charge by Kalaba in the first set before dominating the second in a 6-4, 6-1 victory. Armbruster did not concede a game in a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Gabriel Inyang.
Mail had to fight through a tough first set but he controlled the action in the second set of a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Jaiden Dominguez. Diehl had to rally after being a set down and he did just that, winning the super tiebreaker 10-5 to take his match.
WOMEN'S RECAP
With only five players available, the women's team was down 1-0 when doubles started. That was the only time they trailed against a tough Southern squad.
Laurie Barendse and
Ksenia Reznitskaya continue to be a tough doubles pairing as they moved to 7-1 on the year after a 6-3 win at flight two. It came down to flight one which was hotly contested throughout but
Tristanne Dechoux and
Anastassia Kouchnareva provided a late service break to win their match 7-5.
Once it broke down to singles, the Jaguars were battling on nearly every court. Three of the five singles matches went to five sets.
The Privateers though built up a cushion thanks to Kouchnareva breezing through her match 6-0, 6-0.
Kateryna Kalistratova also earned a point when she was up 5-4 in the first set as her opponent had to retire from the match.
Barendse wound up being the match clincher. She got ahead 4-1 in the third and deciding set which was more than enough of a cushion against Paris Washington. Barendse won 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
The remaining two matches went to 10-point super tiebreaks and both were won by the Privateers. Reznitskaya persevered through a back-and-forth battle in the tiebreak against Baluck Deang for a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 10-8 win.
Dechoux capped off the day with a stirring rally. Trailing 9-5 in the race to 10 points, Dechoux buckled down and went on a run of six consecutive points to defeat Jessica Hess 7-6 (1), 4-6, 11-9.
NEXT UP
The women will head to Nicholls on Wednesday while the men are scheduled to play Prairie View on Apr. 11 at home.
WE ARE YOUR KREWE
For 54 seasons, Privateer student-athletes have had the unique experience of wearing New Orleans across their chests. Like the city itself, our sports teams have been fueled by resiliency, grit, and the unquenchable desire to win. Our city also houses the nation's biggest celebration each year. And much like a Mardi Gras parade krewe, we are tethered to our community through pride, tradition, a culture of acceptance, and finally our commitment to show that New Orleans is a world-class city to live, learn, play and work. We invite you to become more involved with the only University that truly represents New Orleans all day, every day. Join #NOLAsTeam, We Are Your Krewe!
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