NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers men's and women's tennis teams both had solid performances in their respective season openers against Mississippi Gulf Coast CC. The men scored a 6-1 win while the women ran away with a 7-0 sweep of the Bulldogs.
WOMEN'S RECAP
The Privateers set a strong tone early in doubles. Between all three matches, the women only dropped five total games in their doubles matches.
Kateryna Kalistratova and
Fleur Sprengers got an early service break and continued to keep the momentum in a 6-1 victory.
The same held true for
Ananya Dhankar and
Iris Danne as the freshman duo raced out to a big early lead in a 6-1 decision.
Anastassia Kouchnareva and
Nouray Khaled scored a 6-3 victory to complete the sweep in doubles.
No Privateer lost more than four games in a set as all six won in straight sets. Khaled did not lose a game in her victory at flight four against Lauren Sullivan.
"The women kept their composure today and they played well," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "They won the doubles point convincingly and in singles they played well across the board. This match was good from the standpoint of building confidence."
Kalistratova, Danne and Dhankar all won their respective matches with three or fewer games conceded. Kalistratova won 6-1, 6-1. Danne won 6-2, 6-1 and Dhankar won 6-0, 6-2.
At the top two flights, the Privateers held strong on both courts. Kouchnareva broke the serve of Danique Vermue to finish off a 6-2, 6-4 win. Sprengers gutted out a first set over Valleria Callejo and then breezed through the second set of a 6-4, 6-0 victory.
MEN'S RECAP
The men's team also had a solid performance in doubles to start the day. There were only four games lost between the three doubles teams.
Matthew Armbruster and
Sep de Visser won 6-2 at flight one.
Marc Mail and
Julian Franzmann echoed that score line at flight two.
Joseph Townes and
Jay Temming, who had standout performances in the fall as a doubles team, swept their match 6-0.
In singles, the top three flights proved tough with two of those matches going to three sets. The Privateers won two of them. Mail got two breaks of serve to set the tone in the deciding third set as he won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Townes came through a pair of long sets. He overcame an early deficit to win the first set 7-5 and won a tiebreak 7-6 (4) against Moritz Stroebel that featured a passing shot down the line on the penultimate point.
"I think we played a really good team today," said Kanga. "We were challenged but our experience and depth really paid off today. This was a good start to the season and I'm proud of the way these guys competed."
The back half of the rotation dominated on the day. Franzmann won his singles match 6-1, 6-0 and Temming duplicated that score at flight five. De Visser gained a service break in the eighth game of the first set and he won the last five games of the second set in a 6-3, 6-2 win.
Mississippi Gulf Coast got their win at flight one as Gonzalo Cotter won a back-and-forth battle 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
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