University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
San Francisco
@RaginCajunsWT Heads West For The Start Of A California Swing
3/1/2019 10:33:00 AM | Women's Tennis
LAFAYETTE – After taking the first half a rain shortened doubleheader at Cajun Courts, on Feb. 28, against Prairie View A&M, Louisiana Women's Tennis (5-3) will hop on a plane and head to the west coast for a busy swing in California starting with a pair of matches this weekend at San Francisco (5-4) on Saturday, March 2 and Pacific (0-3) on Sunday March 3.
Saturday's match at San Francisco will begin at 5 p.m. CT and Sunday's matchup against Pacific will have first serve at 12:30 p.m. CT.
RAIN RAIN GO AWAY: Louisiana's doubleheader against Prairie View A&M on Feb. 28 was shortened to a single match thanks to the weather. Louisiana did take the first match in a sweeping fashion winning 4-0, but rain would ultimately be the winner on the day.
So far this season the Ragin' Cajuns have not been strangers to the rain, having five matches canceled so far this season due to rain. Including twice in Ruston, La., when Louisiana attempted to play Louisiana Tech, a matchup at home against McNeese State and a match against Grambling that was set to be contested in Ruston.
STRONG FOUNDATION: Louisiana's strength over the first eight matches of the season has come from its middle to bottom portion of the lineup. Juniors Marina Rodriguez Garcia and Clara Mantaux have controlled the middle primarily playing No. 3 through No. 5 singles.
Garcia has gone 6-1 overall, 3-0 at No. 4 singles and Mantaux has followed that up having gone 2-1 at No. 4 singles, helping Louisiana to a 6-2 record overall at No. 4 singles. While at No. 6 Louisiana is undefeated, thanks to junior Milena Achlamov's 2-0 record and freshman Ai Noa Fabre going 3-0 at No. 6, giving Louisiana a 5-0 record at No. 6 helping Louisiana through the start to the season.
GARCIA IMPRESSES: Garcia has gotten off to a hot start to begin the 2019 season, with the junior already snagging six wins in singles, going 6-1, and she has won her last four singles matches all in the month of February. In the Sun Belt Conference, Garcia's win total is impressive, and her six wins are the third-most in singles across the conference and she is tied for the team lead in the singles win column.
FLO LEADS FROM THE FRONT: Playing five out of eight matches at No. 1 singles, sophomore Floriane Picaut has led the way for Louisiana going 4-1 at No. 1 and 6-2 overall in singles. She has won four out of her previous five matches, having won eight out of 11 sets during the stretch.
When looking at the conference, Picaut ranks among some of the top competitors at No. 1 singles, with her .800 winning percentage placing her third in the conference. Picaut also sits third in the Sun Belt in wins earned at No. 1 singles.
WHAT THE DONS BRING: San Francisco enters the match having lost four out of its last five matches, including the last two straight matches. The match with Louisiana will be the second of what will become a six-match home stretch for the Dons, and six out of USF's nine matches so far have been at home.
This will be the first matchup between the two programs in either's history.
WHAT THE TIGERS BRING: Pacific, who has only played in three dual matches so far in the spring, enters the match against Louisiana having not won a single match. The Tigers opened the season with a 4-2 loss at Fresno State (Jan. 27), followed by a pair of losses at UC Davis (4-3) and vs. Cal Poly (4-3).
Pacific has been in all of its matches, losing by one point in the past two matches, and the Tigers will be a tough matchup for Louisiana in what will be the first matchup between the two programs in either side's history.
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