NEW ORLEANS - The Nicholls State University men's and women's tennis teams opened their season with a pair of losses to Loyola University New Orleans on Friday afternoon at the City Park Tennis Center.

The women battled the Wolf Pack but came up short in a 4-3 decision. The singles were split with three wins each but a sweep by Loyola in doubles ended up being the deciding point.

Paulina Villegas won in her debut with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Chloe Henderson at No. 2, as did Amalie Grube Andersen who captured a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 6. Senior Sophia Sara Safarova won in straight sets as well with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph at No. 3.

On the men's side, after Loyola won a tightly contested doubles point, the Colonels picked up a pair of wins in singles in the 5-2 defeat.

Coming off an All-SLC performance as a freshman, Kotaro Matsumura started off Year 2 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 3 singles. Maxwell Lindstedt earned a win in his debut, bouncing back from a first-set loss against Remus Hebhang-Balan to secure a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.

In doubles, all three matches were stretched to seven points and two went into a tiebreaker. The lone win came on Line 3 where Colin Tavares and Mike Wood picked up a 7-6 (7-3) victory.

UP NEXT
Nicholls will make its home debut on Wednesday, Feb. 5 against Coastal Alabama Community College. The men are slated to start at 11 a.m. with the women to follow at 2 p.m.