LAFAYETTE, La.– Freshmen
Yu Fujioka (Funabashi, Japan) and
Maxine Palmen (Sittard, Netherlands) won their singles draws Saturday at the Ragin' Cajun Invitational, hosted by Louisiana-Lafayette.
Fujioka rallied to defeat ULL's
Kelly Drew 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, and Palmen came back to beat
Polina Ivanova of Northwestern State 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
"I am happy we won some matches today," said USA head
Jaco Keyser. "It helped us overcome some tough match situations."
In other singles action, freshman
Nikola Kohoutova (Kralupy Nad Vltavou, Czech Republic) fell to NSU's
Ela Iwaniuk 6-1, 6-0, and
Katya Comejo defeated sophomore
Leslie Soto (Santiago, Chile) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) in the finals of their draws.
"We have enough talent to overcome this weekend in the short term, but we will hold ourselves accountable to a higher standard," Keyser said.
In doubles, Palmen and Soto finished third in their draw after dropping
Fleur Holtkamp and
Ceci Mercier of Southeastern Louisiana 6-4. Fujioka and Kohoutova also earned third place by winning 6-3 over Lamar University's
Jasmin Buchta and
Anita Bozhko.
Earlier in doubles,
Hannah Brett and
Marija Mastilovic from McNeese State defeated Palmen and Soto 6-3, and Fujioka and Kohoutova lost to Ivanova and
Kateryna Avram 6-2.
"I'm glad we got some matches under the belt that should provide us with plenty of reference points for this week's practice," said Keyser.
The Jaguars return to the court Friday in the Bulldog Classic, hosted by Samford University.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Baseline Club, the tennis-specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Baseline Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's and women's tennis programs. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub
—USA—
