NEW ORLEANS –
Nouray Khaled strung together four consecutive points in a third set tiebreak, which vaulted the New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team to a 4-2 victory over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Saturday at the Privateer Tennis Center.
Khaled was trailing 5-3 in the third set tiebreak, but turned up the pressure on her opponent. She executed a drop shot to get the mini break. Serving for the match, Khaled's serve was returned wide and the Privateers put the finishing touches on a 2-0 start to the season.
The Golden Eagles started the day by gutting out a pair of victories in doubles to take the opening point of the match. They won 7-5 at flight one and survived a late charge to win 6-4 at flight three after leading 4-0 at one point.
"I'm really proud of the way they played and how they came back after losing the doubles point," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "These ladies came out with the mindset they could win this match. Nouray made some great adjustments and played a smart match. Iris started the momentum for us and next thing you know, we're back in this match with what Ana and Fleur did in their matches."
In singles, the Privateers started to turn the momentum in their favor. It started with
Iris Danne who was relentless during her match as she notched the first point with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at flight one.
Then,
Anastassia Kouchnareva was locked in a tough battle with Angelina Blinova. The match went to a third set tied and was tied at 3-3 when Blinova had to retire from the match due to an injury. That put the Privateers ahead 2-1 overall.
After Southern Miss leveled the score when Miranda Xu survived a long first set in her 7-5, 6-3 victory at flight three, the Privateers went back ahead with a win at flight two.
Fleur Sprengers topped Hannah Chambers 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 which set up Khaled's match clinching point.
Ananya Dhankar was up a service break in her third set as she led 4-2 when the match was clinched.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will face Troy on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.
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