NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans men's tennis team played its first NAIA competition of the 2024 spring on Thursday, falling 5-2 to Lewis-Clark State in a matchup at Xavier's Tennis Center. Both teams came into the match ranked just outside the top 25, receiving votes in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Rating.
It was a match that could have gone either way, as the Pack took two singles matches and two others went to three sets. In doubles, Spencer Matz and Hippolyte de Preville cruised to a 6-1 victory on court 2. Samuel Motazed and Nick Stam teamed up on court 3, but lost a close match 7-6 in a 7-5 tiebreak as the visitors took the doubles point.
Motazed got things started in singles with a quick 6-1, 6-1 win at the No. 4 spot. Francisco Javier Arce Vieyra also won his match, coming back from down 6-5 in the second set to force a tiebreak, which he won 7-5. But by the time he had wrapped up his match on court 1, Lewis-Clark had already clinched the team win, taking four of the six singles points.
The Wolf Pack, now 0-2 on the season, will return to the XULA Tennis Center on Sunday to face Xavier, the NAIA's No. 8-ranked team.
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Results
Loyola – 2
Lewis-Clark State – 5
Doubles
1. Rusnak/Kikuchi (LCSC) def. Arce Vieyra/Aure (LOYNO) 6-4
2. De Preville/Matz (LOYNO) def. Swing/Rollin (LCSC) 6-1
3. Camino/Tevez (LCSC) def. Motazed/Stam (LOYNO) 7-6 (7-5)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. Francisco Javier Arce Vieyra (LOYNO) def. Matus Rusnak (LCSC) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
2. Itaru Kikuchi (LCSC) def. Remus Hebhang-Balan (LOYNO) 6-4, 6-3
3. Rafael Bonnet de Larbogne (LCSC) def. Nick Stam (LOYNO) 6-2, 7-5
4. Samuel Motazed (LOYNO) def. Austin Swing (LCSC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Nell Rollin (LCSC) def. Hippolyte de Preville (LOYNO) 3-6, 7-5, 6-0
6. Alvaro Camino (LCSC) def. Herman Aure (LOYNO) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 6, 1, 5
