NEW ORLEANS - The Nicholls State University men's tennis team battled rival New Orleans in the teams' Southland Conference opener Wednesday, but the Privateers came away with a 5-2 victory at the University Tennis Center.

Nicholls (2-1, 0-1 SLC) took two of the three doubles courts to jump out to a 1-0 advantage. However, the Colonels secured only one point in singles play after coming up short in all three of the top courts -- all decided in three sets.

UNO (6-0, 1-0 SLC) cruised at the No. 1 line in doubles with a 6-0 shutout. Nicholls bounced back with win at 2 and 3, as Nicola Wehrle/Piyush Surendra Salekar edged Marcel Volz/Luke Joujan in a 7-6 (7-5) battle. With the point up for grabs,  Omar Morsy/Antonio Sasso won at 3 by defeating Espen Lagarde/Matthew Armbruster, 7-5. 

In singles, the Privateers jumped ahead after a pair of straight-set victories on courts 4 and 6. David Tesic then outlasted Salekar in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 to put UNO one point away from clinching the team win. New Orleans followed with two more wins in three-set outings. Morsy fell in the top court, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and Ricardo Machado was defeated 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

The Colonels closed out the day with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 victory at 5 by Pavle Drobnjakovic over Matthew Armbruster. 

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Nicholls will head to Baton Rouge this weekend to face Purdue and LSU. Saturday's match against the Boilermakers is scheduled for 3 p.m. while Sunday's vs. the Tigers is slated for 5 p.m.