Stephen F. Austin
New Orleans
SFA Suffers 5-2 Southland Conference Loss at New Orleans
3/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
New Orleans 5, Stephen F. Austin 2
Records: New Orleans | 9-3, 3-1 Southland • Stephen F. Austin | 6-7, 2-3 Southland
Up next: at Southeastern Louisiana (3-7, 0-4 Southland) | Sunday, March 19 | 11:00 a.m.
NEW ORLEANS - Sophomores Liza Aginskaya and Kaja Ljubic each won their singles matches, but those victories were the only team points the Stephen F. Austin women’s tennis team could come up with in its 5-2 Southland Conference loss at New Orleans Saturday afternoon.
SFA drops to 6-7 and 2-3 in Southland Conference play while the Privateers improved to 9-3 and 3-1 in the league with the victory.
"We played well today, but our youth still shows at times," said SFA head coach Jon McLaughlin.
The Ladyjacks never led in the match despite the Aginskaya/Ljubic tandem scoring a 6-2 third-flight doubles win over Brittany Johnson and Claudette Gilhespie. It was SFA’s lone doubles win of the match, but despite that the Ladyjacks had a chance to tie things up in the number two singles match.
Sophomore Vanesa Pardo scored a 6-4 win over Anja Luethi in the first set of the second singles flight before SFA’s second-year player retired after going 2-0 in the second set. Pardo suffered an ankle injury which forced her premature departure from the match.
Aginskaya handled Johnson 6-2, 6-2 in the fifth singles match, cutting the Privateers’ lead to 3-1 in the process, but Trang Dao earned a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win over reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week Denise Maxl in the number-one spot to give UNO a three-point lead once again.
Freshman Gabi Guilarte had a long battle with Gilhespie in the number-four singles match. The first-year player bounced back from a 7-6 loss in the first with a 6-4 win in the second to force a deciding third set. In that frame, however, Gilhespie emerged with a 10-7 win to cap the Privateers’ win .
Stephen F. Austin travels from New Orleans to Hammond, La., Sunday morning for an 11:00 a.m. battle at Southeastern Louisiana.
New Orleans 5, Stephen F. Austin 2
3/18/2017 at New Orleans, La.
Singles competition
1. Trang Dao (UNO) def. Maxl, Denise (SFA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
2. Anja Luethi (UNO) def. Pardo, Vanesa (SFA) 4-6, 2-0, retired
3. Anna Segarra Rius (UNO) def. Tiboldi, Darinka (SFA) 6-1, 6-3
4. Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) def. Guilarte, Gabi (SFA) 7-6, 4-6, 10-7
5. Aginskaya, Liza (SFA) def. Brittany Johnson (UNO) 6-2, 6-2
6. Ljubic, Kaja (SFA) def. Yasmine Rashad (UNO) 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)
Doubles competition
1. Anja Luethi/Anna Segarra Rius (UNO) def. Maxl, Denise/Guilarte, Gabi (SFA) 6-2
2. Trang Dao/Yasmine Rashad (UNO) def. Tiboldi, Darinka/Payne, Sian (SFA) 6-2
3. Aginskaya, Liza/Ljubic, Kaja (SFA) def. Brittany Johnson/Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) 6-2
Match Notes
Stephen F. Austin 6-7, 2-3 SLC
New Orleans 9-3, 3-1 SLC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,3,5,1,6,4)
-SFA-
