WOMEN'S RESULTS | MEN'S RESULTS
THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University tennis teams began its conference schedule Monday at home against Abilene Christian, and both squads came up short as the women fell 5-2 to the Wildcats, while the men dropped a 6-1 decision at the Colonel Tennis Complex.
"I thought we were very competitive against one of the best programs in the Southland. They blew us off the map last year, but we were vastly improved – winning two lines on the women's side and one for the men, and had a lot of close three-set matches," said
Greg Harkins, Nicholls tennis head coach. "Our challenge is to be consistent from beginning to end. Those are the growing pains that we're dealing with. We'll continue to work on that, play whole matches in doubles and singles and a total team-effort mentality as we're moving forward. We'll continue to get better and I appreciate the effort from the crews today."
The women's match saw three singles matches go into a third set, with the Colonels coming out on top in two of them.
Mariia Kozachok grinded out a 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 win over Sarah Adams while
Marina Vigil outlasted Autumn Crossnoe, 6-3, 3-6, 11-9. In the No. 1 match,
Stephanie Barnett suffered her first singles loss in league play since 2014 in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 decision against Lucile Pothier. Barnett was undefeated in conference in 2015 before missing the last two years with an injury.
ACU took the No. 2 and 5 matches in straight sets, and Ileana Mocciola earned a win at No. 6 via retirement. The Wildcats also cruised in doubles, winning courts 1 and 2 to pick up the point.
On the men's side,
Tobias Lentz had a 2-0 day after winning at No. 1 doubles and No. 3 singles. He teamed up with
Oleksander Podgursky for a dominating 6-1 win, and then knocked off Niko Moceanu in a close 7-6, 7-6 battle.
For the rest of singles, the Colonels pushed ACU to three sets in two matches, but fell short in both.
Nestor Giribet Lopez dropped the deciding set, 10-6, while
Eduardo Marino was defeated, 10-4.
UP NEXT
The @Nicholls_WTEN return to the court at Southern Miss on Wednesday, while the @Nicholls_MTEN has the rest of the week off before taking on Jacksonville State on March 3.
