Final Stats

LA Tech vs. ULL box

LAFAYETTE, La. ÃÆ'¢Ã¢'¬" The Louisiana Tech women's tennis team picked up its first dual win of the spring season on Sunday afternoon, handing Louisiana-Lafayette its first loss of the year in the process with a dramatic 4-3 victory at Cajun Courts.

A lot of things made it dramatic for LA Tech (1-1).

They had to come from behind to win it. And do so with four freshmen and zero seniors in the lineup versus a ULL (6-1) squad with three seniors. And do so on the road against the Ragin' Cajuns who had won its first six dual matches, all coming at home.

"We finished much better than we started," head coach Amanda Stone said. "We have been talking about how much intensity we need to bring to these dual matches. ULL was really intense and came out of the gates swinging and we did not match it.

"I think we realized what level we needed to bring and brought it in singles. Everyone stepped up in singles and fought really hard. It was great for us to get our first win and to know what that feels like. There was a lot of emotion in the match."

The Lady Techsters found themselves down 2-0, dropping the doubles point with losses on courts one and three. The Ragin' Cajuns then quickly got their second point in a straight-sets win on court one in singles.

The comeback started from there though. Sophomore Nadja Manjon overpowered Dana Radovanovic 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 3 spot to get LA Tech on the scoreboard.

Evening the team match up at 2-all was freshman Paulina Cota who was able to finish off Marina Rodriguez Garcia in straight sets by a final score of 6-2, 7-6 (4) for her first career dual win.

Soon thereafter, it was junior Sonia Chen collecting 6-4, 7-5 victory against Elena Sava to pull the Lady Techsters to within one point of reaching the needed four points.

The remaining two matches on court were at the No. 2 and No. 5 positions, both of which went into a third set. ULL managed to pull out a win on court two to tie things back up at 3-3, bringing the match down to freshman Karla De La Luz Montalvo versus senior Abby Johnson.

Montalvo took the first set, 6-4, while Johnson grabbed the second set, 3-6. With the third set on serve at 4-3, Montalvo was able to break Johnson's serve to go up 5-3. She was then broken back, but regrouped to break Johnson's serve again for the match at 6-4.

"ULL is seasoned and had a lot of confidence being at home," Stone said. "Our freshmen did a good job refocusing after doubles and played really well. Karla handled her big moment really well. She had the match on her shoulders and had never been in that situation. She came through for us."

LA Tech returns home to host its first dual match of the spring on Tuesday, Feb. 6 when they face off against Northwestern State. First serve is set for 1:30 p.m. at the LA Tech Tennis Complex.

For all the latest in LA Tech Tennis, follow them on Twitter (@LATechTEN), Instagram (@LATechTennis) and Facebook (LATechTennis) or visit the official website at LATechSports.com.