NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana Tech jumped out to an early lead by winning the doubles point, but Memphis ended up claiming four singles points as the Bulldogs fell, 4-2, to the Tigers on Friday in a neutral site match at City Park Tennis Center.
 
LA Tech (12-7) nearly pulled out the victory over a hot Memphis (5-11) team that was only two weeks removed from getting a top-25 win over Clemson. 
 
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first thanks to a strong doubles performance.  The pairing of Mio Kozaki and Nina Skoric did not lose a single game, disposing of Alice Amendola and Clemence Thouard by a score of 6-0 at the No. 3 spot.
 
Clinching the doubles point was the duo of Ana Rodrigues and Zoie Epps who outlasted Sofia Mykhailets and Alyssa Richter, 7-5, at the No. 1 position.   
 
However, the Tigers rattled off three consecutive straight-set wins on courts one, three, and five to take a 3-1 lead.  Stopping the bleeding was Zoie Epps who won her 17th singles match of the spring, besting Mykhailets 7-5, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot to slice into the deficit.
 
The remaining two courts were in a battle.  Kozaki was in the second set against Emily Meyer after claiming the first set, 7-5, at No. 4 and June Vigneron was in need of a comeback after dropping the first set in a tiebreaker to Thouard at No. 6.  The Tigers would ultimately clinch the match with a win on court six.
 
NOTABLES

• LA Tech claimed the doubles point for the 12th time this season.
• Ana Rodrigues collected her 46th career dual doubles win, the fourth most in program history. 
• Zoie Epps tallied her 25th career doubles win, 20 of which have come in duals matches.
• Zoie Epps won her 17th dual singles match of the spring, tied for the sixth most in program history.  The sophomore has dropped only four total sets in 19 matches played.  

UP NEXT
LA Tech returns to the courts on Sunday, March 30 for a true road match versus Tulane.  First serve is set for Noon CT at the City Park Tennis Center.
 
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