Manuela Alban (FR/Quito, Ecuador ) notches victories in both singles and doubles to lift Loyola over the Gold Nuggets.
NEW ORLEANS - Traveling across town to take on NAIA No. 10-ranked Xavier, the Loyola University New Orleans women's tennis team picked up a 5-4 upset win in Sunday's season opening match.
Manuela Alban had a successful debut for the Wolf Pack (1-0), picking up victories in both singles and doubles to kick off Kyle Russell's fourth season as head coach of the Pack with a win. The Gold Nuggets fall to 0-2 following a loss at South Alabama last Saturday.
Playing with only four players in their lineup, the host Xavier was forced to forfeit the court three doubles match as well as the singles matches on courts five and six, meaning that Loyola started the match with three points, needing two more to seal the victory.
"I don't want to make too big of a deal over this win," said Russell after the match. "When Xavier gets all of their players cleared, they are a legit top 5 team in NAIA. They are going to be dangerous. It's hard to win a match when you start down 3-0 before the first point is played. That being said, I'm extremely proud of the way we came to play today."
Trailing 6-3 early in their doubles match, the duo of Alban and Arianna Pepper (SO/Arequipa, Peru) were able to come back to score a crucial 9-7 victory over Xavier's tandem of Yi Chen Pao and Farah Baklouti, giving the Wolf Pack a 4-1 lead heading into singles play.
Needing just one win in singles play to clinch the team win, Alban was able to do just that, closing out a tough 6-4, 7-5 victory over Baklouti on court three.
On the individual performances, Russell said, "Koral played great tennis, even if the score lines didn't reflect it. Arianna is coming back from Mono and fought with everything she had which was very admirable. Game ball goes to Manuela though. For a freshman to step in and win both singles and doubles her first match out of the gates, that's impressive. It was a good start for Loyola Women's Tennis, but there is a lot of work to be done and we need to get a lot better."
The Wolf Pack return to action on Friday, Feb. 2, when they take on the NCAA DI University of New Orleans at 3 p.m.
Results
Doubles competition
1. Charlene Goreau/Manon Bonada (XULA) def. Koral Martinez (JR/Lajas, Puerto Rico)/Nadja Ochsner (SO/Stein, Switzerland) (LOYNO) 8-3
2. Manuela Alban/Arianna Pepper (LOYNO) def. Yi Chen Pao/Farah Baklouti (XULA) 9-7
3. Gabrielle Terranova (FR/Metairie, La.)/Miranda Cano (SO/Weston, Fla.) (LOYNO) def. No player/No player (XULA), by default
Singles competition
1. #23 Charlene Goreau (XULA) def. Koral Martinez (LOYNO) 6-3, 6-1
2. Manon Bonada (XULA) def. Arianna Pepper (LOYNO) 6-3, 4-1, retired
3. Manuela Alban (LOYNO) def. Farah Baklouti (XULA) 6-4, 7-5
4. #50 Yi Chen Pao (XULA) def. Nadja Ochsner (LOYNO) 6-1, 6-0
5. Gabrielle Terranova (LOYNO) def. No player (XULA), by default
6. Miranda Cano (LOYNO) def. No player (XULA), by default
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,6,2,1,3,4)
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