NEW ORLEANS – The Lewis-Clark State Men’s Tennis faced two top-25 opponents to close out its trip to Louisiana at the XULA courts on Friday. The Warriors dropped contests to No. 8 Xavier (La.) and No. 22 Dillard (La.).
The two losses snapped a five-match winning streak and dropped the Warrior record to 5-4.
MATCH ONE: No. 8 Xavier (La.) def. LC State 7-0
“Alan Green’s team at Xavier is tough,” assistant coach Ryan LaPlante said. “It was a good learning experience for us. It gives us helpful insight at the team and skill levels that we will see at our unaffiliated conference tournament in a few months.”
Austin Swing and Nell Rollin earned the lone victory on the day. The duo earned a win in No. 2 doubles against Artur Yakubov and Jered Wilson 7-6 (5).
Itaru Kikuchi lost two close-fought sets in No. 2 singles to Julius Hell 7-6 (3), 7-5. After getting swept in the first set, Raphael Bonnet de Larbogne battled back to a tough 7-5 second set loss in No. 3 singles to Nereo Suarez.
“Many made adjustments in the second set,” LaPlante said. “The guys took this loss hard which I think will lead to more fire from them in our next match today against Dillard.”
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Jacobi Bain/Nereo Suarez (XULA) def. Itaru Kikuchi/Matus Rusnak (LCSC) 6-0
2. Austin Swing/Nell Rollin (LCSC) def. Artur Yakubov/Jered Wilson (XULA) 7-6 (5)
3. Ivan Vazquez/Julius Hell (XULA) def. Alvaro Camino/Daniel Tevez (LCSC) 6-1
Singles
1. Jacobi Bain (XULA) def. Matus Rusnak (LCSC) 6-3, 6-1
2. Julius Hell (XULA) def. Itaru Kikuchi (LCSC) 7-6 (3), 7-5
3. Nereo Suarez (XULA) def. Raphael Bonnet de Larbogne (LCSC) 6-0, 7-5
4. Ivan Vazquez (XULA) def. Austin Swing (LCSC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Artur Yakubov (XULA) def. Nell Rollin (LCSC) 6-1, 6-2
6. Jered Wilson (XULA) def. Alvaro Camino (LCSC) 6-4, 6-0
MATCH TWO: No. 22 Dillard def. LC State 7-0
Alvaro Camino and Daniel Tevez won the only match for LC State in No. 3 doubles with a 7-5 victory.
“Our guys were right there in it,” LaPlante said. “I don’t think the scores are indicative of how close some of these matches were. Many deuce points didn’t go our way.”
Austin Swing improved after a tough first set to push his opponent Pablo Martin to the limit in their No. 3 singles match before losing 6-1, 7-5. Nell Rollin lost in a tough fought 6-4, 6-4 contest with Nour Salah Ibrahim in No. 4 singles.
“Our guys need to continue to find ways to fight and compete,” LaPlante said. “Overall, we got to play some great teams and great tennis on this trip. We’re coming home sunburned but ready to get to work.”
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Nour Salah Ibrahim/Yassine Ben Jemaa (DU) def. Itaru Kikuchi/Matus Rusnak (LCSC) 6-3
2. Vinh Nguyen/Jesus Rodriguez (DU) def. Austin Swing/Nell Rollin (LCSC) 6-3
3. Alvaro Camino/Daniel Tevez (LCSC) def. Pablo Martin/Crowle (DU) 7-5
Singles
1. Yassine Ben Jemaa (DU) def. Itaru Kikuchi (LCSC) 6-1, 6-1
2. Vinh Nguyen (DU) def. Raphael Bonnet de Larbogne (LCSC) 6-2, 6-4
3. Pablo Martin (DU) def. Austin Swing (LCSC) 6-1, 7-5
4. Nour Salah Ibrahim (DU) def. Nell Rollin (LCSC) 6-4, 6-4
5. Jesus Rodriguez (DU) def. Alvaro Camino (LCSC) 6-0, 6-0
6. Crowle (DU) def. Daniel Tevez (LCSC) 6-3, 6-2
UP NEXT
The Warrior men host NCAA Division III Puget Sound on March 2.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
