Men’s Tennis: Dolan Wins Final Tiebreaker To Give Cajuns Win At UIW

David Collins, Athletics Communications Assistant

The win was the fourth straight win for the Cajuns and it gave them a 2-0 weekend in their trip to San Antonio, Texas.

SAN ANTONIO – Sophomore Pearse Dolan, playing No. 4 singles, locked up another hard-fought victory for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s tennis team, when his three-set battle was wrapped up with a winning tiebreaker, to give the Cajuns a 4-3 win over the Incarnate Word Cardinals at the Clarence Mabry Tennis Center.
           
It’s the Cajuns fourth straight win and it improves their record to 6-4 on the season, while the loss for Incarnate Word drops their record to 2-3.
           
Dolan’s win was his fifth straight win, as his record improves to 7-2 in the spring season, senior Vlad Kramarov got a win at No. 3 and it’s his sixth straight win as his record improves to 7-2 and sophomore Elio Lago snagged his second straight win, to move his record in the spring to 3-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Doubles): Louisiana got off to a strong start, taking the doubles point for the second straight match of the weekend.  The Cajuns pairing of Dolan and freshman Nico Sojka got Louisiana’s first win when they took down the Cardinal pair of Dyer/Vander Heiden at No. 3, 6-1.
           
Incarnate Word then took the next match at No. 2 when Mortier/Evans beat the Cajuns duo of junior Arthur Libaud and sophomore Jamie Fraser, 6-2.  But at No. 1, Louisiana’s Kramarov and Lago locked up the Cajuns 1-0 lead with a 6-3 win over Incarnate Word’s Bendana/Vatanadilok.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Singles): The Cajuns quickly added to their score at No. 5, when Lago got his second win of the weekend with a straight set win over Incarnate Word’s Nedim Ahmic, 6-1, 6-1.  At No. 1, the Cardinals got their first point in the match when Francisco Bendana beat the Cajuns’ Fraser in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.  Kramarov, at No. 3, pulled the Cajuns one win closer to finishing the weekend sweep in San Antonio when he took down Incarnate Word’s Sebastian Mortier in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 and the score sat at 3-1 with Louisiana sitting on top.

Things then got dicey for the Cajuns as the Cardinals began to work their way back into the match with wins at No. 2 and No. 6.  But those wins weren’t easy for them to get, as at No. 2 Louisiana’s Libaud went three-sets with Incarnate Word’s Gabriel Evans, before losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.  And at No. 6, the Cajuns Dominik Koenig took his opponent to three-sets as well before losing to the Cardinal’s Caleb Dyer, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.  Koenig’s loss at No. 6 tied the match up at 3-3 and it set up an exciting finish at No. 4.
           
Dolan, at No. 4, answered the call for the Cajuns with his match going the distance, but the Cajuns sophomore fought off the Cardinal’s Joey Vatanadilok’s attempt at completing the comeback for Incarnate Word, winning the match in three-sets, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4).
           
For Louisiana, the win was as exciting as it gets, but Dolan took care of business in the tiebreaker to make sure that the Cajuns left San Antonio with the big victory, and with the final score sitting at 4-3, the Cajuns did just that.

UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana remains on the road, with a trip east to Virginia.  First they’ll visit Old Dominion on Saturday, Feb. 10 and they’ll then head to VCU on Tuesday, Feb. 13 to wrap up their trip to Virginia.

FOLLOWING THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS: Follow the Cajuns on twitter @RaginCajunsMT for updates during the match, links to live streams and a link to the recap following the matches.

Louisiana 4, Incarnate Word 3
February 4, 2018 at San Antonio, Texas (Clarence Mabry Tennis Center)
Doubles:
1.) Kramarov/Lago (LA) def. Bendana/Vatanadilok (UIW) 6-3
2.) Mortier/Evans (UIW) def. Libaud/Fraser (LA) 6-2
3.) Dolan/Sojka (LA) def. Dyer/Vander Heiden (UIW) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1*
 
Singles:
1.) Paco Bendana (UIW) def. Jamie Fraser (LA) 6-3, 6-2
2.) Gabriel Evans (UIW) def. Arthur Libaud (LA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
3.) Vlad Kramarov (LA) def. Sebastian Mortier (UIW) 6-2, 6-2
4.) Pearse Dolan (LA) def. Joey Vatanadilok (UIW) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
5.) Elio Lago (LA) def. Nedim Ahmic (UIW) 6-1, 6-1
6.) Caleb Dyer (UIW) def. Dominik Koenig (LA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 2, 6, 4*
 
Records:
Louisiana: 6-4
Incarnate Word: 2-3