NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's tennis team earned its second consecutive win on Thursday, beating the No. 11 Dillard Bleu Devils 4-2 at Dillard's tennis courts. It was the highest-ranked opponent Loyola has beaten in men's tennis program history.
The Wolf Pack dropped the doubles point in the match but came back to win four singles points and secure their second match win of the season. The team is now 2-2, while Dillard fell to 3-6.
While Dillard claimed the doubles point on Thursday, doubles competition was close. The Bleu Devils got the win on court 2, but Loyola got one back with Hippolyte de Preville and Patrick Teuteberg winning their first match together, 6-4. Doubles came down to court 1, which went to a tiebreak that Dillard won 7-5.
Sam Izrael had a solid start to singles after falling in the tiebreak. His 6-4, 6-3 win on court 1 was the first of four for the Wolf Pack on Thursday, and it was Izrael's second straight. Dillard got a point back on court five before Alfredo Gallegos prevailed after a tiebreak in the third, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), to tie the match score at 2-2.
Hippolyte de Preville won 7-5, 6-3 to give Loyola its first lead on the scoreboard at 3-2. He also moved up to second on the Wolf Pack's all-time wins list with a career record of 30-27.
The last two matches, featuring Samuel Marin and Jett Nguyen, both went to third sets after both Wolf Pack players won their opening sets. Marin's match was a marathon, but he finished first, leaving court 6 unfinished. Marin pulled out a 13-11 tiebreak in the first set, fell in the second set but shook it off to win 7-5 in the third and take the match for the Pack.
Loyola's men's team will return to Dillard's tennis courts tomorrow morning for a match against NCAA Division-II school Drury University. The match is scheduled for 10 a.m.
"Great statement win for the men today. We were bummed our match last week with OLLU was rained out because we felt we were ready and playing well and were eager to compete again.
"Today we were in position to win the doubles point but couldn't close it out. It didn't impact our competitiveness. We came out and fought for each singles point. It shows who we can be when we play with maturity, leadership. Most importantly, we executed our core values throughout this match at a high level".
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Men's Results
(RV) Loyola – 4
#11 Dillard – 2
Doubles
1. Rodriguez/Ibrahim (DU) def. Gallegos/Izrael (LOYNO) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Arya/Kouchari (DU) def. Abati/Marin (LOYNO) 6-2
3. Teuteberg/de Preville (LOYNO) def. Bobia/Purevdorj (DU) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. Sam Izrael (LOYNO) def. Nour Salah Ibrahim (DU) 6-4, 6-3
2. Hippolyte de Preville (LOYNO) def. Jesus Rodriguez (DU) 7-5, 6-3
3. Alfredo Gallegos (LOYNO) def. Siddharth Arya (DU) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
4. Samuel Marin (LOYNO) def. Tarique Bobia (DU) 7-6 (13-11), 3-6, 7-5
5. Undarakh Purevdorj (DU) def. Luca Abati (LOYNO) 7-6 (7-4), 6-0
6. Jett Nguyen (LOYNO) vs. Daniel Hernandez (DU) 6-3, 3-6, 4-3, unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 5, 3, 2, 4
