Braves Drop Opening Matches at UL-Lafayette, Tulane
Men's Tennis |

Braves Drop Opening Matches at UL-Lafayette, Tulane

NEW ORLEANS – The Alcorn State University men's tennis program put up a fight at several positions against strong opposition, but fell in doubleheaders at UL-Lafayette 6-1 and 4-0 Saturday at Cajun Courts, and 7-0 and 7-0 at Tulane on Sunday at City Park Tennis Center.
 
"This wasn't the beginning that we would have liked to have, but we gained a lot of experience from these matches. There were some good results and a couple players did well. We're coming back from some injuries and we learned a lot these last couple days," said head coach Barbara Oliveira. "We need to come back stronger next weekend."
 
The highlight of the weekend came in the first match when sophomore Johnatan Parat pulled out a comeback victory for the Braves (0-4) over the Ragin' Cajuns (3-1) at No. 2 singles. Parat dropped the opening set 6-4 before coming back to win 6-2 and the third-set super tiebreaker 10-7 over Elio Lago.
 
Parat nearly won at No. 1 doubles as well. Teaming with fellow sophomore Stojan Stojanovski, the Braves were serving for the match at 5-3, but the Cajuns were able to win the next four games to snatch a 7-5 result.
 
In the second match against the Cajuns, Parat and Stojanovski were again holding their own in singles when the Cajuns clinched. Parat was hanging in there, down 6-2, 4-3 at No. 1 singles, while Stojanovski dropped the first set 6-2 but was leading 4-3 in the second at No. 2 singles.
 
Against Tulane (2-0), freshman Gjorgji Popovski won four games at No. 3 singles in the opening match of the doubleheader. Over the six singles matches, the Braves won 12 games.
 
In the second match, the Braves turned in their best doubles performance as all three courts came down to the wire. Parat and senior Nuno Rocha were edged 7-5 at the No. 1 position, while junior Ivan Matas and freshman Kareem Bowe barely lost 6-4 at No. 3.
 
The Braves will be back in action Saturday at 11 a.m. against Southern Miss on the road before playing their home-opener Sunday at 10 a.m. against Florida A&M at the Alcorn Tennis Courts. The Alcorn women's program will play its season-opener Saturday at home against Stephen F. Austin at 11 a.m.
 
Match 1: UL-Lafayette 6, Alcorn 1
Doubles Competition
1. Vujic, Marko/Libaud, Arthur (ULL) def. Stojan Stojanovski/Johnatan Parat (ALCM) 7-5
2. Gilheany, Pierce/Lago, Elio (ULL) def. Ivan Matas/Nuno Rocha (ALCM) 6-2
3. Fraser, Jamie/Cocito-Monoc, Silvio (ULL) def. Gjorgji Popovski/Kareem Bowe (ALCM) 6-1
 
Singles Competition
1. Libaud, Arthur (ULL) def. Stojan Stojanovski (ALCM) 6-3, 6-3
2. Johnatan Parat (ALCM) def. Lago, Elio (ULL) 4-6, 6-2, 10-7
3. Vujic, Marko (ULL) def. Gjorgji Popovski (ALCM) 6-3, 7-5
4. Fraser, Jamie (ULL) def. Ivan Matas (ALCM) 6-1, 6-3
5. Gilheany, Pierce (ULL) def. Nuno Rocha (ALCM) 6-3, 6-0
6. Koenig, Dominik (ULL) def. Kareem Bowe (ALCM) 6-0, 6-0
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,4,5,3,1,2)
 
Match 2: UL-Lafayette 4, Alcorn 0
Doubles Competition
1. Vujic, Marko/Libaud, Arthur (ULL) def. Stojan Stojanovski/Johnatan Parat (ALCM) 6-1
2. Gilheany, Pierce/Lago, Elio (ULL) vs. Nuno Rocha/Gjorgji Popovski (ALCM) 4-1, unfinished
3. Cocito-Monoc, Silvio/Fraser, Jamie (ULL) def. Ivan Matas/Kareem Bowe (ALCM) 6-0
 
Singles Competition
1. Lago, Elio (ULL) vs. Johnatan Parat (ALCM) 6-2, 4-3, unfinished
2. Libaud, Arthur (ULL) vs. Stojan Stojanovski (ALCM) 6-2, 3-4, unfinished
3. Vujic, Marko (ULL) vs. Ivan Matas (ALCM) 7-5, 5-0, unfinished
4. Fraser, Jamie (ULL) def. Gjorgji Popovski (ALCM) 6-4, 6-1
5. Koenig, Dominik (ULL) def. Nuno Rocha (ALCM) 6-0, 6-2
6. Cocito-Monoc, Silvio (ULL) def. Kareem Bowe (ALCM) 6-1, 6-1
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,5,4)
 
Match 3: Tulane 7, Alcorn 0
Doubles Competition
1. Ewan Moore/Hamish Stewart (TLN) def. Johnatan Parat/Stojan Stojanovski (ALCM) 6-0
2. Luis Erlenbusch/Tyler Schick (TLN) def. Nuno Rocha/Gjorgji Popovski (ALCM) 6-1
3. #29 Akos Kotorman/Tim Ruetzel (TLN) def. Ivan Matas/Kareem Bowe (ALCM) 6-0
 
Singles Competition
1. Ewan Moore (TLN) def. Johnatan Parat (ALCM) 6-1, 6-0
2. #42 Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) def. Stojan Stojanovski (ALCM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Hamish Stewart (TLN) def. Gjorgji Popovski (ALCM) 6-2, 6-2
4. #58 Tyler Schick (TLN) def. Nuno Rocha (ALCM) 6-0, 6-0
5. Akos Kotorman (TLN) def. Ivan Matas (ALCM) 6-0, 6-1
6. Eric Wagner (TLN) def. Kareem Bowe (ALCM) 6-2, 6-1
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,4,3,1,6,2)
 
Match 4: Tulane 7, Alcorn 0
Doubles Competition
1. Tyler Schick/Hamish Stewart (TLN) def. Johnatan Parat/Nuno Rocha (ALCM) 7-5
2. Dane Esses/Akos Kotorman (TLN) def. Stojan Stojanovski/Gjorgji Popovski (ALCM) 6-3
3. Tim Ruetzel/Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) def. Ivan Matas/Kareem Bowe (ALCM) 6-4
 
Singles Competition
1. #42 Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) def. Johnatan Parat (ALCM) 6-1, 6-0
2. Hamish Stewart (TLN) def. Stojan Stojanovski (ALCM) 6-1, 6-1
3. Dane Esses (TLN) def. Gjorgji Popovski (ALCM) 6-1, 6-1
4. #125 Tim Ruetzel (TLN) def. Nuno Rocha (ALCM) 6-0, 6-0
5. #120 Felix Ewers (TLN) def. Kareem Bowe (ALCM) 6-0, 6-0
6. Eric Wagner (TLN) def. Ivan Matas (ALCM) 6-0, 6-0
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,5,3,2,1,4)
 
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