NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans women's tennis team faced its first NAIA opponent this spring, the Dillard Bleu Devils, in a road match Friday.
The Pack bounced back after a home loss against Nicholls on Tuesday, winning the doubles point against Dillard and following it up with four wins on the singles courts.
"Very proud of our women's team performance today," said coach Matt Llewellyn." We played focused and confident which is nice to see this early in the spring."
Loyola's two ranked doubles teams played well enough to capture the first point of the match. Micaela Ponce and Ariana Salgueiro-Estela continued to impress, winning 6-0 on Court 2. The duo has only dropped two games in their four matches this season. Lucy Carpenter and Fatima Vasquez also got back to their winning ways with a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles.
"Fatima Vasquez stepped up big for us in doubles," said Llewellyn. "She is playing with an injury which prevented her from playing singles. She dug deep and played great to help us earn the doubles point."
Carpenter, Ponce, and Salgueiro-Estela all also got singles wins, with Carpenter and Ponce playing at the No. 1 and 2 singles positions. Salgueiro-Estela, playing on Court 5, earned her first victory in singles and her first SSAC win. Freshman Adele Fereres remained undefeated on the year, winning on Court 6. Fereres' win also clinched the match for the Wolf Pack.
"We're pleased with today's result and will celebrate a total team win," Llewellyn finished. "We know we still have a lot of work to do in and out of the SSAC. We'll be back to work next week preparing for UNO and Xavier."
The Wolf Pack women will stay in New Orleans for the next two road matches, taking on NCAA D-I school UNO on Tuesday at 2 p.m. and Xavier on Feb. 11 at noon.
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.
Results
No. 14 Loyola – 5
Dillard – 1
Doubles
1. #10 L. Carpenter/Vasquez (LOYNO) def. Tran/Palani (DU) 6-4
2. #13 Ponce/Salgueiro-Estela (LOYNO) def. Lara/Hrblijan (DU) 6-0
3. B. Gomez/Shchoma (DU) def. E. Carpenter/A. Fereres (LOYNO) 6-1
Singles
1. Lucy Carpenter (LOYNO) def. Truc Tran (DU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Micaela Ponce (LOYNO) def. Brunella Gomez (DU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Isabella Leaño (LOYNO) vs. Anja Hrblijan (DU) 4-6, 3-4, unfinished
4. Kaavya Palani (DU) def. Avery Frierson (LOYNO) 6-1, 6-2
5. Ariana Salgueiro-Estela (LOYNO) def. Valentina Gomez (DU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-2
6.
Adele Fereres (LOYNO) def. Shchoma (DU) 6-1, 7-6
