Tennis teams open up conference play against Mobile

Both matches were close, with Loyola's women's team winning 4-3 and the men's team falling 4-3

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's and women's tennis teams opened up conference play Friday with a challenging matchup with the University of Mobile at home in City Park. 

The No. 14 Wolf Pack women's team, facing Mobile who was receiving votes, won 4-3. The men's team, which was up 3-1 against the No. 13 Rams after winning the doubles point, lost 4-3. 

"The men made great progress and I'm very proud of how they competed," head coach Matthew Llewellyn said. "Winning the doubles point in our last two matches has been great for our confidence."

Loyola only dropped one point between the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches, with the teams of Francisco Arce Vieyra/Herman Aure and Theo Debackere/Filip Hovland each cruising to victories as Loyola went up 1-0. In singles, Remus Hebhang-Balan won 6-1, 6-2 on Court 3 while Arce won 6-3, 6-3 on Court 2. The Pack couldn't come up with another singles win, however, as Mobile took the match. 

"We were close to a big win for our program so I'm disappointed for our guys because they almost had it," Llewellyn said. "We learned a lot about what we can do as a team when we play for each other. We will build off this match and keep working."

In the women's victory, Loyola was also able to secure the doubles point, with wins coming from the No. 10-ranked duo of Lucy Carpenter and Fatima Vasquez as well as Isabella Leaño and Elly Carpenter. 

Mobile got the first three wins of singles play to put Loyola in a tough spot down 3-1. But the team rallied back, with the Carpenter sisters and Vasquez all earning singles wins to put the Wolf Pack on top.

"The women came through for each other when we needed it the most," Llewellyn commented after the match. "Mobile came to compete and were ready for us. It was cool to see us play with confidence when we trailed and took the win."

Loyola's head coach continued, "Elly was able to control her match throughout to put Fatima in a position to clinch. Fatima raised her focus and level to win the last 3 games of her match to get us the win. I don't believe our women ever thought they would lose this match. We're working on that mentality so I'm proud they demonstrated that today."

The Wolf Pack will have almost a week to prepare for the next match, a road meeting with Dillard for both the men's and women's teams. The match is scheduled for 3 p.m. on March 3 at the XULA Tennis Center. 

You can keep up with the Pack 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 – 3

No. 13 Mobile  – 4

Doubles
1. Klingebiel/Okano (UM) def. Duchier/Hebhang-Balan (LOYNO) 6-2

2. Arce/Aure (LOYNO) def. Mougaillard/Diloreto (UM) 6-1

3. Debackere/Hovland (LOYNO) def. Vrba/Reyna (UM) 6-0

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles
1. Joao Pedro Okano (UM) def. Aubin Duchier (LOYNO) 6-4, 7-5 

2. Francisco Arce Vieyra (LOYNO) def. Boris Klingebiel (UM) 6-3, 6-3

3. Remus Hebhang-Balan (LOYNO) def. Jan Vrba (UM) 6-1, 6-2

4. Nicolas Mougaillard (UM) def. Herman Aure (LOYNO) 7-6 (8), 6-2

5. Santiago Diloreto (UM) def. Theo Debackere (LOYNO) 7-5, 6-3

6. Sergio Ruiz Ramiro (UM) def. Filip Hovland (LOYNO) 6-0, 7-5

Order of finish: 6, 3, 2, 1, 4, 5

Women's Results

No. 14 Loyola – 4

Mobile – 3

Doubles
1. #10 L. Carpenter/Vasquez (LOYNO) def. Reynaldo/P. John (UM) 6-3

2. E. Carpenter/Leaño (LOYNO) def. Hrovat/Schweizer (UM) 6-2

3. E. John/Wild (UM) def. Briggs/Chavez (LOYNO) 7-5

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles
1. Lucy Carpenter (LOYNO) def. Maria Reynaldo (UM) 6-4, 6-0

2. Fatima Vasquez (LOYNO) def. Paula John (UM) 6-1, 7-5

3. Sofija Hrovat (UM) def. Madelynn Chavez (LOYNO) 6-1, 6-3

4. Elly Carpenter (LOYNO) def. Luana Wild (UM) 6-4, 6-2

5. Alina Schweizer (UM) def. Isabella Leaño (LOYNO) 6-1, 6-1

6. Emily John (UM) def. Selma Fereres (LOYNO) 6-0, 6-3

Order of finish: 6, 3, 5, 1, 4, 2