The team score was tied 4-4 going into a three-set decision on singles court four, where Chandler Harmon clinched the match for Loyola.
NEW ORLEANS – Winning their third-straight match against ranked opponents, the No. 22 Loyola University New Orleans women's tennis team defeated No. 9 LSU-Alexandria 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at City Park.
"What an amazing battle we had today," assistant coach Eduardo Garcia said. "Our girls fought hard from beginning to end and experienced an incredible college tennis match."
The Wolf Pack (9-6) jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Generals (5-3), with the team of Koral Martinez and Arianna Pepper earning an 8-2 victory on court one. The duo of Nadja Ochsner and Chandler Harmon, now 9-2 on the season as a doubles pairing, came back to win 9-7 on court three.
"Arianna and Koral led the fight in doubles, winning our first doubles point in a dominant fashion," said Garcia. "Although we lost on court three and were down 6-3 on court three, Nadja and Chandler were able to turn it around for an incredible comeback winning 9-7 to help us go into singles with a 2-1 lead.
Ochsner, playing the "best tennis of her career" according to Garcia, began singles play with a 6-2, 6-3 victory on court five. Gabrielle Terranova scored the next team point, playing aggressively to win 6-4, 6-2 on court six, but the Generals came back to tie the score at 4-4 heading into the final match to finish on court four.
Garcia said that the freshman Harmon, in a tough three-set match, "was able to overcome the nerves and keep a positive attitude to get the Pack one of the best wins in the program's history," as she clinched the team victory with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 result.
"LSUA is a very well-coached team and they fight extremely hard on every court," Garcia said, "so we are very happy to get our first win against them. What an awesome experience it was to coach the Pack today, and now we will keep working hard to end our regular season as strong as possible!"
The Wolf Pack will return to City Park this Tuesday, April 9, to face NCAA Division-I squad Nicholls State at 2 p.m.
You can keep up with the Pack this season by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
Results
No. 22 Loyola – 5
No. 9 LSU-Alexandria – 4
Doubles
1. K. Martinez/Pepper (LOY) def. Cool/Guerrero (LSUA) 8-2
2. P. Martinez/Perez (LSUA) def. Alban/Jordan (LOY) 3-8
3. Harmon/Ochsner (LOY) def. Campos/Packer (LSUA) 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. Miljana Milojevic (LSUA) def. Koral Martinez (LOY) 6-1, 6-3
2. Patricia Perez (LSUA) def. Manuela Alban (LOY) 6-1, 6-3
3. Niamh Packer (LSUA) def. Arianna Pepper (LOY) 7-5, 6-3
4. Chandler Harmon (LOY) def. Marie Cool (LSUA) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
5. Nadja Ochsner (LOY) def. Patricia Martinez (LSUA) 6-2, 6-3
6. Gabrielle Terranova (LOY) def. Katharyne Campos (LSUA) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 2, 6, 3, 1, 4
