HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The No. 10-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack women's tennis team secured another important win over a top-10 team on Thursday, knocking off No. 8 William Carey in a road contest Thursday, 5-2.
Loyola improves to 8-5 on the season and 6-1 in Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) competition. The Wolf Pack currently sits atop the conference standings, as Carey moves to 5-2 with the loss. Middle Georgia (4-1), which has two SSAC matches remaining, needs to win its next two matches to win the regular season championship.
The Wolf Pack will have a quick turnaround tomorrow, as Loyola will face another ranked team, No. 15 Westcliff, in less than 24 hours. Friday's home match, scheduled for 2 p.m. at City Park, will be the final home contest of the season.
A new doubles lineup played for the Pack against the Crusaders on Thursday, with Lucy Carpenter and Micaela Ponce teaming up at No. 1 doubles for the first time. Carpenter and Ponce rolled to a 6-1 victory to begin doubles, but Carey got the win on the other two courts to claim the doubles point.
Ponce also played well in singles, winning 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 2 spot. Carey's usual No. 2 singles player, Tiffany Chang, played down a flight to No. 3 but still was defeated, as Chloe Henderson earned a straight-sets victory (6-4, 7-5) to give the Pack the lead at 2-1.
Two highly ranked singles players matched up at the top spot, as No. 5 Victoria Vieten faced No. 11 Lucy Carpenter for the first time this year. Carpenter lost the first set 6-1 and was down 4-0 in the second before storming back to take set 2 in a tiebreak. The Wolf Pack senior went on to prevail in the third set (6-4) to finish the conference schedule undefeated at 7-0.
With the Pack up 3-1 in the match, Avrora Volkova triumphed in her first match at No. 4 singles this season, 7-5, 6-4, to clinch the team victory. Playing in her first season in New Orleans, Volkova went 4-0 in conference matches, with wins over opponents from two ranked teams.
Loyola added one more win in singles as Adele Fereres came back from down a set to win in a third-set super tiebreak. Henderson (6-1), Ponce (5-1), and Fereres (5-1) all finished the conference schedule with at least five wins and just one loss.
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Results
No. 10 Loyola – 5
No. 8 William Carey – 2
Doubles
1. L. Carpenter/Ponce (LOYNO) def. Logan/Westkamp (WCU 6-1
2. #32 Lechuga/Vieten (WCU) def. E. Carpenter/Salgueiro (LOYNO) 6-3
3. Chang/Lin (WCU) def. A. Fereres/Henderson (LOYNO) 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. #11 Lucy Carpenter (LOYNO) def. #5 Victoria Vieten (WCU) 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
2. Micaela Ponce (LOYNO) def. Gia Posito (WCU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Chloe Henderson (LOYNO) def. Tiffany Chang (WCU) 6-4, 7-5
4. Avrora Volkova (LOYNO) def. Li-Hsien Lin (WCU) 7-5, 6-4
5. Adele Fereres (LOYNO) def. Isabella Lechuga (WCU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 10-5
6. Sunny Logan (LOYNO) def. Isabella Leaño (WCU) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 4, 6, 5
