Both teams played well in doubles, winning five of the six doubles matches in Friday's doubleheader
NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans men's and women's tennis teams closed out a long homestand with matches against Lewis-Clark State College in City Park on Friday.
"I'm really proud of both of our teams," said head coach Kyle Russell. "They've shown so much resilience battling through injuries and illness. It's fun to watch them come together as a team."
On the women's side, it was a battle of two teams ranked next to each other in the most recent NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, with the Wolf Pack (8-6) ranked 22nd and the Warriors (4-11) coming in at 23rd.
The Pack opened up the match with two-straight doubles victories. The duo of Koral Martinez and Arianna Pepper scored the first point on an 8-3 win at the No. 1 position, while Nadja Ochsner and Chandler Harmon followed with an 8-5 victory at No. 3.
Loyola then closed out the match winning five of the six singles matches, claiming a 7-2 team victory. Pepper, Harmon, Ochsner, Manuela Alban, and Gabrielle Terranova all earned singles wins.
"I'm very happy with how our girls competed," said assistant coach Eduardo Garcia. "We started a little slow in doubles but were able to pull it together and had a great attitude on all courts. It was a great team effort and it was really fun to watch them get their business done."
Loyola's men's team (6-8) started off their match strong in doubles as well, heading into singles play up 3-0 after winning on every court. The team of Emilio Saenz and Ernesto Telles started it off with an 8-4 result at the No. 3 spot, followed by an 8-5 win for Joseph Short and Tiger Cheung at No. 1. Samuel Marin and Galileo Cabrales claimed the third point of the match with their 8-6 doubles win on court two.
Telles then led off singles play with a 6-0, 6-3 victory on court six, but the Warriors (4-9) topped the Wolf Pack on every remaining court, including a tough three-set match on court two where Marin was just edged out 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to decide the match 5-4.
"Anytime the match comes down to four-all and both players have match point it's great college tennis," said Russell. "We didn't pull it out, but considering where we started the day, unsure of who would be available to play, it was a heck of an effort."
Both tennis teams will return to action on Sunday, March 31, in a road matchup against Spring Hill College in Ocean Springs, Miss.
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 Results
Loyola (RV) – 4
Lewis-Clark State – 5
Doubles
1. Cheung/Short (LOY) def. Lee/Menenzes (LCSC) 8-5
2. Cabrales/Marin (LOY) def. Bruchard/D'Aboville (LCSC) 8-6
3. Saenz/Telles (LOY) def. Gavelin/Magalasin (LCSC) 8-4
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. Alexandre D'Aboville (LCSC) def. No. 38 Tiger Cheung (LOY) 7-6, 6-3
2. William Bruchard (LCSC) def. Samuel Marin (LOY) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
3. Jackson Lee (LCSC) def. Alexander DePascual (LOY) 6-4, 7-5
4. Herman Yue (LCSC) def. Joseph Short (LOY) 7-5, 6-1
5. Larry Magalasin (LCSC) def. George Fourmaux (LOY) 7-5, 6-1
6. Ernesto Telles (LOY) def. Marcus Gavelin (LCSC) 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 4, 5, 1, 3, 2
Women's Results
No. 22 Loyola – 7
No. 23 Lewis-Clark State – 2
Doubles
1. K. Martinez/Pepper (LOY) def. Andres/Barry (LCSC) 8-3
2. Diaz/Rosselli (LCSC) def. Alban/Jordan (LOY) 5-8
3. Harmon/Ochsner (LOY) def. Collier/Uhlenkott (LCSC) 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Begona Andres (LCSC) def. Koral Martinez (LOY) 6-3, 6-2
2. Arianna Pepper (LOY) def. Laura Roselli (LCSC) 6-4, 6-3
3. Manuela Alban (LOY) def. Laura Diaz (LCSC) 6-1, 6-4
4. Chandler Harmon (LOY) def. Sophie Uhlenkott (LCSC) 6-4, 6-1
5. Nadja Ochsner (LOY) def. Alexandra Barry (LCSC) 6-4, 6-2
6. Gabrielle Terranova (LOY) def. Kyla Collier 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 1, 4, 3, 6, 2
