PERKINSTON, Miss. – For the first time since 2019, the Loyola Wolf Pack women's tennis team has begun the spring season 2-0, as the program picked up a pair of wins on Saturday in its first matches of the year.
Coming into the doubleheader as the No. 14-ranked team in the NAIA, the Pack earned a 7-0 sweep of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and a 5-2 victory over Meridian Community College.
In the match against MGCCC, Loyola's doubles teams only lost a combined two games between the three matches, and only one set was lost in the singles matches.
Elly and Lucy Carpenter played their first official collegiate match together against MGCCC, winning without dropping a set at 6-0. Elly also won a singles match and didn't drop a set in doubles against Meridian CC, pairing up with Adele Fereres to win 6-0. Fereres had an impressive start to her Loyola career, returning perfect match scores of 6-0, 6-0 in each of her singles appearances.
Fereres was one of four women's tennis players to make their Wolf Pack debuts on Saturday, with Micaela Ponce, Avery Frierson, and Leonie Schmidt also playing in their first dual matches in Perkinston. All four players were victorious in their singles matches in the doubleheader. Schmidt, who won the C draw at the fall's Dillard Invitational, won a singles match against Meridian and a doubles match with Isabella Leaño in the MGCCC match.
The No. 13-ranked doubles team by the ITA, Ponce and Ariana Salgueiro-Estela kept up their momentum from the fall, winning two doubles matches on Saturday. Each also won a singles match against MGCCC, as did Vasquez at the No. 1 spot.
Loyola's men's and women's tennis teams will continue the season with their first home match on Tuesday. The match against NCAA Division-I opponent Nicholls is set to start at noon in New Orleans City Park.
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.
Match One
No. 14 Loyola – 7
MGCCC – 0
Doubles
1. #13 Ponce/Salgueiro-Estela (LOYNO) def. Kaome/Moreno (MGCCC) 6-1
2. E. Carpenter/L. Carpenter (LOYNO) def. Hensarling/Burn (MGCCC) 6-0
3. Leaño/Schmidt (LOYNO) def. Askin/Garman(MGCCC) 6-1
Singles
1. Fatima Vasquez (LOYNO) def. Tanyaradzwa Kaome (MGCCC) 6-1, 6-4
2. Micaela Ponce (LOYNO) def. Angela Moreno (MGCCC) 4-6, 6-3, 10-5
3. Ariana Salgueiro-Estela (LOYNO) def. Bayley Askin (MGCCC) 6-4, 7-5
4. Adele Fereres (LOYNO) def. Hayden Hensarling (MGCCC) 6-0, 6-0
5. Isabella Leaño (LOYNO) def. Kendall Burn (MGCCC) 6-0, 6-2
6. Elly Carpenter (LOYNO) def. Abigail Garman(MGCCC) 6-1, 6-1
Match Two
No. 14 Loyola – 5
Meridian CC – 2
Doubles
1. De Mata/Quintero (MCC) def. #10 L. Carpenter/Vasquez (LOYNO) 7-5
2. #13 Ponce/Salgueiro-Estela (LOYNO) def. Rodriguez/Storment (MCC) 6-1
3. E. Carpenter/A. Fereres (LOYNO) def. Hill/Blackledge (MCC) 6-0
Singles
1. Ana Julissa De Mata (MCC) def. Lucy Carpenter (LOYNO) 6-2, 6-3
2. Isabella Quintero (MCC) def. Fatima Vasquez (LOYNO) 6-4, 6-1
3. Avery Frierson (LOYNO) def. Kamryn Rodriguez (MCC) 6-2, 6-1
4. Adele Fereres (LOYNO) def. Macey Hill (MCC) 6-0, 6-0
5. Leonie Schmidt (LOYNO) def. Ruthie Storment (MCC) 6-1, 6-0
6. Reilly Briggs (LOYNO) def. Cali Grace Davis(MCC) 6-1, 6-2
