NEW ORLEANS, La. – Senior
Anna Spengler battled back from an opening-set loss to defeat New Orleans' Anja Luethi at No. 2 singles for the fourth and deciding point of the day. Spengler's victory ended a 2-0 run for the Privateers as they were attempting to rally from a 3-1 deficit, and handed the Cardinals a 4-3 decision over UNO.
The Cardinals (16-7/8-3 SLC) close the regular season, and enter the Southland Conference Championships winning three consecutive and guarantee themselves at least the three seed in the tournament.
"I'm very proud of our girls today," said LU head coach
David Wong. "This was a very tough match that could have gone either way. We didn't panic, but stuck with the process. When we stick with the process good things will happen. UNO is a very good team so we planned on this match coming right down to the bitter end."
The Privateers took the first victory of the day winning at No. 1 doubles, but LU fired back with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles for the point. The team of
Jasmin Buchta and senior
Hanna Elfving recorded a 6-2 victory over UNO's Trang Dao and Brittany Johnson for the win at No. 2, while senior
Talisa Merchiers and
Stephanie Marchena posted a 6-4 decision to lock up a hard-fought doubles competition.
The lead didn't last long as New Orleans bounced right back with a victory at the bottom of the lineup. Johnson picked up a straight-set decision in a match where Elfving was unable to find her rhythm.
A candidate for Southland Player of the Year, senior
Katya Lapayeva, returned the favor when she bounced the Privateers' Dao in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Lapayeva's singles victory Saturday moves her to 19-3 overall and a near perfect 10-1 in conference play all from the No. 1 position.
Freshman
Sanja Jolic put the Cards on the cusp of victory with her straight sets winner on court four. Jolic's win was the third point of the afternoon, but the Cardinals were not out of the woods. Of the remaining three courts, LU dropped the opening set on two of them. New Orleans picked up victories on courts five and three respectively setting up Spengler's heroics in the deciding match.
Spegler was edged in a tiebreaker in the opening set, 7-6 (7-5). Instead of allowing that match to deflate her confidence, she battled back with a vengeance in the second taking a 6-3 decision setting up the final set. Spengler's third set performance was a near mirror image of the second as she put Luethi away, 6-3, for the individual and team victory.
The Cardinals will now turn their attention to the SLC Championships which will begin Friday, April 28 at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Complex in Beaumont, Texas. Admission to the match is free.
-LU CARDINALS-
