Men’s Tennis: UL surges past Northern Arizona in Ragin’ Cajun Invitational + photo gallery

Bruce Brown, Special To The Advertiser, Feb. 16, 2019

That was true of UL’s Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday at Cajun Courts, as the Nos. 4-5-6 singles positions all won to cement a 4-0 victory over Northern Arizona in the final match of the Ragin’ Cajun Tennis Invitational.

It was the kind of tough victory coach Mark Jeffrey has been seeking, especially after Friday night’s 4-2 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“This was a good match for us, a strong match,” said Jeffrey, whose team improved to 11-3 on the season. “They’re a good team. It was the kind of a match where, if you don’t play well, you lose.

“It was a quality win.”

One spark for the day was lone senior Arthur Libaud, who dominated Facumdo Tumosa 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles to put UL ahead 3-0, on the verge of victory and serve notice that he could force a change in the lineup with his play.

“Arthur played No. 1 for us his first two years,” Jeffrey said. “Then he let the college life get to him a little bit and didn’t have a good year last year. I worked with him a lot over Christmas, and he has been playing well.”

No. 5 Jamie Fraser turned up the heat in the second set against Thomas Fisher, and his foe wilted under the pressure, 6-3, 6-2, in the first singles match decided.

Soon all eyes turned to Kacper Dworak at No. 6 as he faced down Rupert Montano 7-5, 6-4 to clinch the match.

No. 1 Pearse Dolan, No. 2 Jan Galka and No. 3 Elio Lago were all locked in tough matches at the time, so Dworak’s win was crucial.

“It was a 50-50 type of match,” Jeffrey said. “A tennis match is full of critical moments, and today we handled those moments better. In the major points, we were able to rise up.

“It was a good finish to the weekend.”

Cajuns 4, Northern Arizona 0

DOUBLES – No. 1 Arthur Libaud-Pearse Dolan (UL) def. Tim Handel-Rupert Montano (NA), 6-3; No. 2 Jan Galka-Kacper Dworak (UL) def. Lucas Taylor-Facundo Tumosa (NA), 6-4.

SINGLES – No. 4 Arthur Libaud (UL) def. Facundo Tumosa (NA), 6-4, 6-1; No. 5 Jamie Fraser (UL) def. Thomas Fisher (NA), 6-3, 6-2; No. 6 Kacpe Dworak (UL) def. Rupert Montano (NA), 7-5, 6-4.