Louisiana Takes ULM To The Wire In Loss At Monroe

MONROE, La. – It came down to the wire, but the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's tennis team came out on the short end of their match with the ULM Warhawks, losing 4-3 on Sunday at Raymond Heard Stadium.

The match was sprinkled with several rain delays, the first of which pushed back the start time of the match to 12:30 p.m., and the second of which occurred between the doubles and singles part of the match. Louisiana's loss drops their record to 11-7, while ULM's record improves to 8-5 and it's their fourth win in their last five matches.

Senior Abby Johnson (No. 5) and sophomore Marina Rodriguez Garcia (No. 6) each got wins in singles while the freshmen duo of Floriane Picaut and Dana Radovanovic along with the Cajuns pairing of senior Kelly Drew and Garcia added wins in doubles.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Doubles): The Cajuns would take the doubles point, but ULM got things started by taking the first match when the Warhawks pairing of Snita and Andrei beat the Louisiana senior duo of Johnson and Elena Sava, 6-0.

But the Cajuns snagged the next two matches to get the doubles point and start things with a 1-0 lead. It started when Drew and Garcia beat the Warhawks pairing of Grigoriu and Koen, 6-4. Things then came down to the final match in doubles, when Picaut and Radovanovic fought off the Warhawks duo of Radu and Silwanowicz winning 7-6 (7-3).

HOW IT HAPPENED (Singles): ULM bounced right back and would take the next three matches starting at No. 3 when Karolina Silwanowicz beat Louisiana's Sava, 6-4, 6-0. Then at No.1 Stefana Andrei beat Drew in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 and ULM followed that up with another win at No. 2 when Picaut fell to ULM's Snita 6-3, 6-1 to put the Warhawks up 3-1.

But the Cajuns weren't ready to go down that easily, and Louisiana flipped things by winning the next two matches to tie it up at 3-3.

The first win for the Cajuns came at No. 5 when Johnson beat Bianca Koen in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Louisiana then tied things up when Garcia won at No. 6 over Madalina Grigoriu in a three-set battle, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Garcia showed her girt and unwillingness to quit when she came storming back after dropping the first set.

With the score tied up at 3-3, things then came down to the remaining match between Radovanovic and ULM's Teodora Radu at No. 4. Radu would pull out the win in another three-set marathon, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. And it meant that the Warhawks would come away with the 4-3 win, despite the Cajuns best efforts to come away victorious.

UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana returns to Cajun Courts for one final time on Saturday, Mar. 31 for a Senior Day doubleheader when they host Prairie View A&M (9 a.m.) and Alcorn State (1 p.m.).

FOLLOWING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS: Follow the Cajuns on twitter @RaginCajunsWT for updates during the match, links to any live stats provided and the recap following the day's action.

ULM 4, Louisiana 3
March 25, 2018 at Monroe, La.
(Raymond Heard Stadium)
Doubles:
1.) Snita/Andrei (ULM) def. Johnson/Sava (LA) 6-0
2.) Picaut/Radovanovic (LA) def. Radu/Silwanowicz (ULM) 7-6 (3)
3.) Drew/Garcia (LA) def. Grigoriu/Koen (ULM) 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2*

Singles:
1.) Stefana Andrei (ULM) def. Kelly Drew (LA) 6-1, 6-3
2.) Karolina Snita (ULM) def. Floriane Picaut (LA) 6-3, 6-1
3.) Karolina Silwanowicz (ULM) def. Elena Sava (LA) 6-4, 6-0
4.) Teodora Radu (ULM) def. Dana Radovanovic (LA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
5.) Abby Johnson (LA) def. Bianca Koen (ULM) 6-3, 6-4
6.) Marina Rodriguez Garcia (LA) def. Madalina Grigoriu (ULM) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2, 5, 6, 4*

Team Records:
Louisiana: 11-7
ULM: 8-5

#GEAUXCAJUNS

Louisiana Takes ULM To The Wire In Loss At Monroe

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Kelly Drew

Abby Johnson

Floriane Picaut

Dana Radovanovic

Marina Rodriguez Garcia

Elena Sava