No. 8 Middle Georgia defeats No. 8 Loyola in top-10 matchup

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The No. 8 Loyola Wolf Pack women's tennis team dropped a conference match against No. 6-ranked Middle Georgia 4-3 on Saturday. This was the Pack's first loss against a top-10 opponent this year, previously being 2-0 with wins against No. 4 Xavier and No. 8 SCAD Savannah.

With the loss, Loyola drops to 10-3 overall, 2-1 in SSAC play. 

The Pack started the match well, winning the first point of the match for the 10th match in a row with a doubles sweep. Lucy Carpenter and Chloe Henderson continued their dominance at No. 1 doubles, 6-1 over the No. 35-ranked doubles team in the NAIA for their 12th win of the season. Reilly Briggs and Avery Frierson improved to 5-0 with a 6-3 victory at No. 2 doubles, and Adele Fereres and Micaela Ponce collected their 11th win of the year, 6-2 at No. 3 doubles. 

Ponce got the first point of singles for the Pack in a match at No. 2 singles. In a battle between the 2023 SSAC Co-Freshman of the Year winners, Ponce defeated former Mobile player Berta Castello 6-3, 6-0 

MGA had won three singles matches and led 3-2 in the match by the time court 1 finished, with Lucy Carpenter taking down four-time All-Conference player Marina Prieto 6-3, 7-5. 

The final result came down to court 4 singles. Adele Fereres had a 4-2 lead in the first set and a 4-3 lead in the second, but her opponent came back to win both and seal the win for Middle Georgia. 

The Wolf Pack will play host to another top-10 showdown on April 2 in the last home match of the spring at the City Park Tennis Center. The No. 8 Loyola women will face No. 5 William Carey on Senior Day at 2 p.m. 

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Results

No. 8 Loyola – 3

No. 6 Middle Georgia – 4

Doubles
1. #11 Carpenter/Henderson (LOYNO) def. #35 Fernandez/Prieto (MGA) 6-1
2. Briggs/Frierson (LOYNO) def. Castelló/Takoria (MGA) 6-3
3. Fereres/Ponce (LOYNO) def. Prihach/El Marrasse (MGA) 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles
1. #6 Lucy Carpenter (LOYNO) def. Marina Prieto Gonfaus (MGA) 6-3, 7-5
2. #51 Micaela Ponce (LOYNO) def. #62 Berta Castelló Petrus (MGA) 6-3, 6-0
3. #64 Ainhoa Meili Fernandez del Moral (MGA) def. #66 Chloe Henderson (LOYNO) 6-3, 6-2
4. Aya El Marrasse Zarioui (MGA) def. #56 Adele Fereres (LOYNO) 6-4, 7-5
5. Tamanna Takoria (MGA) def. Avrora Volkova (LOYNO) 6-2, 6-1
6. Yana Prihach (MGA) def. Avery Frierson (LOYNO) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
Order of finish: 5, 2, 6, 3, 1, 4