WOMEN'S SCORESHEET     l     MEN'S SCORESHEET

JACKSON, Miss. – After a four-hour rain delay Wednesday, the Nicholls State University men's and women's tennis teams took to the courts to face the Tigers of Jackson State. Their patience was rewarded as both teams brought home tough road victories, as the Men's match ended with a 4-2 victory and the Women prevailed with a 4-3 final score.
 
Some of the day's highlights included a quick start in doubles for both squads as they clinched points at lines No. 1 and 3. The Men's team of Bernard Wezeman and Sam Meessen made quick work of the JSU duo of Vishu Prasad and Ryan Swainer at line No. 1 with a 6-0 victory and the women's team of Ambika Pande and Andrea Mastrippolito rallied from a 4-3 deficit to claim a 6-4 win over Tigers' Nina Zhang and Daria Butorina, securing the doubles point at line No. 3.
 
Solid performances on the Men's side included wins from line No. 2's Meessen who posted a 6-0, 6-1 score over the Joan Sanson and line No. 3's Oleksander Prodgursky who bested Federico Ruiz, 6-0, 6-3.  At line No. 1, Wezeman clinched the match with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win over Andrey Alawi.
 
The Women's side unfolded in dramatic fashion with the Colonels and Tigers trading off singles lines as Pande and Changwei Wei put the team out front 3-0 with wins at No. 3 and 5, respectively, before the Tigers stormed back to tie the contest by claiming lines 1, 2 and 6. With the last line on court and the decision in doubt, freshman Mariia Kozachok was determined to make her mark. After dropping the first set 6-2, she dug in to claim the second set, 6-3, to push the deciding match to a third set. Kozachok found herself trailing 4-3 late in the contest to Zhang before rallying back to claim a 7-5 victory, clinching a 4-3 team win for the Colonels.

"All of the team support helped me pull out the win for the team," Kozachok said. "I am very happy to get the win and that I was consistent and fought to the end." 

With the wins, the Men improve to 4-3 on the season and the Women stand at 5-2.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Men will be back in action at the Colonel Tennis Complex Sunday, March 5, as the College of Charleston comes to town which will include a crawfish boil that is open to the public. First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m.
 
The Women will host conference rival Southeastern Louisiana State University Wednesday, March 8.