University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Cajuns Just Miss Coming Back Against Southern Miss
3/6/2018 7:53:00 PM | Women's Tennis
LAFAYETTE – After dropping the doubles point, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's tennis team almost completed an epic comeback, but they fell just short of their goal losing 4-3 to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Cajuns Courts on Tuesday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Doubles): Louisiana started the match off by dropping the doubles point to sit in a 1-0 hole. Seniors Abby Johnson and Elena Sava lost their match at No. 1, 6-3, to the Southern Miss pairing of Amaning and Jerse. And the Golden Eagles won at No. 2, 6-3, when their pairing of Roca and Oliveira beat the freshmen duo of Floriane Picaut and Dana Radovanovic.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Singles): Louisiana bounced back at No. 3 when Sava took her match against USM's Tanit Lopez Lopez, 6-2, 6-4 to tie the overall score up. Drew, at No. 1, took the next match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, over Arina Amaning to make it 2-1 in favor of the Cajuns. At No. 6 the Cajuns put themselves one win away from completing the comeback, when sophomore Marina Rodriguez Garcia took the Cajuns third match of the day in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 over Claudia Castella to make it 3-1 with the Cajuns knocking on the door.
But the next three matches would fall in favor of Southern Miss, and it started at No .5 when Johnson fell in straight sets to USM's Elena Roca, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). And at No. 4 Radovanovic fell to USM's Tjasa Jerse, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Both Louisiana women didn't make for an easy exit in the second set, pushing the set to a tiebreaker, but in the end the wins by the Golden Eagles tied the score up at 3-3.
It then came down to a three-set battle at No. 2 and despite the best efforts from Picaut, she would come out on the short end of the marathon, losing to USM's Rikeetha Pereira, 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.
Picaut battled her way back into the match with a strong second set performance but she couldn't capitalize on her momentum and her loss put the final score of the match at 4-3 with Southern Miss coming away with the win.
UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana hits the road for three straight matches starting with visit to Prairie View, Texas where they'll take part in a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 10. In the morning, at 10 a.m., they'll face off with Oral Roberts. And they'll wrap up the day with an afternoon matchup with hosting Prairie View A&M at 3 p.m.
FOLLOWING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS: Follow the Cajuns on twitter @RaginCajunsWT for updates during the matches, links to live stats and the recap following the days action.
Southern Miss 4, Louisiana 3
March 6, 2018 at Lafayette, La.
(Cajun Courts)
Doubles:
1.) Amaning/Jerse (USM) def. Johnson/Sava (LA) 6-3
2.) Roca/Oliveira (USM) def. Picaut/Radovanovic (LA) 6-3
3.) Drew/Garcia (LA) vs. Lopez/Cabanovic (USM) DNF
Singles:
1.) Kelly Drew (LA) def. Arina Amaning (USM) 6-4, 6-4
2.) Rikeetha Pereira (USM) def. Floriane Picaut (LA) 6-0, 5-7, 6-1
3.) Elena Sava (LA) def. Tanit Lopez Lopez (USM) 6-2, 6-4
4.) Tjasa Jerse (USM) def. Dana Radovanovic (LA) 6-3, 7-6(3)
5.) Elena Roca (USM) def. Abby Johnson (LA) 6-4, 7-6(3)
6.) Marina Rodriguez Garcia (LA) def. Claudia Castella (USM) 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 1, 6, 5, 4, 2*
Team Records:
Louisiana: 8-5
South Alabama: 11-3
#GEAUXCAJUNS
HOW IT HAPPENED (Doubles): Louisiana started the match off by dropping the doubles point to sit in a 1-0 hole. Seniors Abby Johnson and Elena Sava lost their match at No. 1, 6-3, to the Southern Miss pairing of Amaning and Jerse. And the Golden Eagles won at No. 2, 6-3, when their pairing of Roca and Oliveira beat the freshmen duo of Floriane Picaut and Dana Radovanovic.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Singles): Louisiana bounced back at No. 3 when Sava took her match against USM's Tanit Lopez Lopez, 6-2, 6-4 to tie the overall score up. Drew, at No. 1, took the next match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, over Arina Amaning to make it 2-1 in favor of the Cajuns. At No. 6 the Cajuns put themselves one win away from completing the comeback, when sophomore Marina Rodriguez Garcia took the Cajuns third match of the day in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 over Claudia Castella to make it 3-1 with the Cajuns knocking on the door.
But the next three matches would fall in favor of Southern Miss, and it started at No .5 when Johnson fell in straight sets to USM's Elena Roca, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). And at No. 4 Radovanovic fell to USM's Tjasa Jerse, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Both Louisiana women didn't make for an easy exit in the second set, pushing the set to a tiebreaker, but in the end the wins by the Golden Eagles tied the score up at 3-3.
It then came down to a three-set battle at No. 2 and despite the best efforts from Picaut, she would come out on the short end of the marathon, losing to USM's Rikeetha Pereira, 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.
Picaut battled her way back into the match with a strong second set performance but she couldn't capitalize on her momentum and her loss put the final score of the match at 4-3 with Southern Miss coming away with the win.
UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana hits the road for three straight matches starting with visit to Prairie View, Texas where they'll take part in a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 10. In the morning, at 10 a.m., they'll face off with Oral Roberts. And they'll wrap up the day with an afternoon matchup with hosting Prairie View A&M at 3 p.m.
FOLLOWING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS: Follow the Cajuns on twitter @RaginCajunsWT for updates during the matches, links to live stats and the recap following the days action.
Southern Miss 4, Louisiana 3
March 6, 2018 at Lafayette, La.
(Cajun Courts)
Doubles:
1.) Amaning/Jerse (USM) def. Johnson/Sava (LA) 6-3
2.) Roca/Oliveira (USM) def. Picaut/Radovanovic (LA) 6-3
3.) Drew/Garcia (LA) vs. Lopez/Cabanovic (USM) DNF
Singles:
1.) Kelly Drew (LA) def. Arina Amaning (USM) 6-4, 6-4
2.) Rikeetha Pereira (USM) def. Floriane Picaut (LA) 6-0, 5-7, 6-1
3.) Elena Sava (LA) def. Tanit Lopez Lopez (USM) 6-2, 6-4
4.) Tjasa Jerse (USM) def. Dana Radovanovic (LA) 6-3, 7-6(3)
5.) Elena Roca (USM) def. Abby Johnson (LA) 6-4, 7-6(3)
6.) Marina Rodriguez Garcia (LA) def. Claudia Castella (USM) 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 1, 6, 5, 4, 2*
Team Records:
Louisiana: 8-5
South Alabama: 11-3
#GEAUXCAJUNS
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