Set to play a match every day this week, Loyola's tennis squads each take down the Fire before the rain fell.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Beginning a busy week on the road in Florida, the Loyola University New Orleans men's and women's tennis teams each started it off with victories over Southeastern, 7-2 from the men and 8-0 from the women on Monday afternoon at the USTA National Tennis Center.
While the Fire were able to claim the first point of the match on court two in doubles, the duo of Ernesto de Diego (SR/Panama City, Panama) and Alexander DePascual (JR/Metairie, La.) tied the match at 1-1 before Galileo Cabrales (SO/San Salvador, El Salvador) and Joseph Short (FR/Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) gave the Pack a 2-1 lead with an 8-4 win on court three.
Ernesto Telles (SO/El Salvador, San Salvador) put Loyola up by two with a shutout 6-0, 6-0 victory on court six before de Diego's opponent retired on court three to make it 4-1 in favor of the Wolf Pack. After battling out a tough first set 7-5 on court four, DePascual would pick up the win on court four to clinch the victory for Loyola, up 5-1.
As Cabrales took a 6-5, 6-4 victory on court one, his first on the lead court this season, Southeastern was able to claim a singles win on court two, with Short's win on court five bringing the final tally to 7-2 in favor of the Wolf Pack. Loyola's men's team now moves to 7-4 on the season.
"Southeastern is a scrappy team so I knew it would not be easy," said head coach Kyle Russell. "What we lacked in sharpness, we made up for with determination. We were up four matches to one when the rain came and caused a five hour delay. The remaining four matches could have gone either way so I was happy we came away with three of them. Freshmen Joey Short clinched the match for us shortly after resuming play and removing any possible drama. I felt like today was one of the best matches from a mental toughness perspective that I have seen out of the Wolf Pack."
In the women's match today, they began by claiming victories on all three courts in doubles. Manuela Alban and Miranda Cano claimed the first win for the Pack 8-1 on court two, Alban's eighth doubles win on the season. On courts one and three, both pairs for the Pack took an 8-1 victory as well, putting Loyola up 3-0 heading into singles.
On court four, Gabrielle Terranova was first to pick up a win for the Pack with a 6-0, 6-2 victory before Koral Martinez clinched the match with the fifth point for Loyola on court three. Margaret Adams's 6-3, 6-4 win on court five came next for the Wolf Pack before Manuela Alban picked up her first win at court one on the season, and sixth overall, to make it 7-0. As the rain began to come down, Arianna Pepper finished her match on court two with a 6-1, 6-3 win before the match on court six was called off due to weather.
"After a 12 hour drive to Orlando the day before, I was worried we might come out a little flat," said Russell. "Instead the Lady Wolf Pack came out with great intensity and spirit. They also showed a lot of what we had been working on in the past weeks, so it was a good start to the week."
The women now move to 6-6 on the season and are 4-2 in their past six matches, with both losses coming to top-10 opponents.
Both teams will remain in Orlando, Fla. at the USTA National Tennis center for a matchup with Warner University tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.
You can keep up with the Pack this season by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
Men's Tennis
Loyola - 7
Southeastern - 2
Doubles
1. Ernesto de Diego/Alexander DePascual (LOYNO) def.Lucca Marcheschi/Hugo Pires (SU) 8-3
2. Thomas Ortega/Felipe Barbosa (SU) def. Sean Presti (JR/Lesigny, France)/Tiger Cheung (FR/Hong Kong) (LOYNO) 8-3
3. Galileo Cabrales/Joseph Short (LOYNO) def. Aaron Skingley/Pedro Bahnuik (SU) 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. Galileo Cabrales (LOYNO) def. Lucca Marcheschi (SU) 7-5, 6-4
2. Felipe Barbosa (SU) def. Sean Presti (LOYNO) 6-4, 7-6 (4)
3. Ernesto de Diego (LOYNO) def. Thomas Ortega (SU) 0-6, 4-1 (retired)
4. Alexander DePascual (LOYNO) def. Hugo Pires (SU) 7-5, 6-3
5. Joseph Short (LOYNO) def. Pedro Bahnuik (SU) 6-4, 7-5
6. Ernesto Telles (LOYNO) def. Aaron Skingley (SU) 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5
Women's Tennis
Loyola - 8
Southeastern - 0
Doubles
1. Arianna Pepper/Koral Martinez (LOYNO) def. Sharienne Ricardo/Angelique Myrtil (SU) 8-1
2. Miranda Cano/Manuela Alban (LOYNO) def. Gabby Marshall/Nicole Backherms (SU) 8-1
3. Margaret Adams/Gabrielle Terranova (LOYNO) def. Michelle Doan/Sydni Brookhouser (SU) 8-1
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. Manuela Alban (LOYNO) def. Sharienne Ricardo (SU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Arianna Pepper (LOYNO) def. Angelique Myrtil (SU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Koral Martinez (LOYNO) def. Gabby Marshall (SU) 6-0, 6-0
4. Gabrielle Terranova (LOYNO) def. Nicole Backherms (SU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Margaret Adams (LOYNO) def. Michelle Doan (SU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Tori Sutherland (LOYNO) vs. Sydni Brookhouser (SU) 4-6, 4-1, unfinished
Order of finish: 4, 3, 5, 1, 2
