Women’s Tennis:Cajuns Finish Strong At Ragin’ Cajuns Invite

LAFAYETTE – Freshman Kim Yatribi rode a three-match winning streak to the flight seven title, winning the championship match in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to highlight a great final day for Louisiana’s women’s tennis team at the 2017 Ragin’ Cajuns Invitational here at Cajun Courts.
           

Senior Abby Johnson and sophomore Marina Rodriguez Garcia each snagged wins in the seventh-place matches of their respective flights while junior Carla Ortega won the flight six constellation title, to go along with the Cajuns’ winning two doubles constellation titles to wrap up a great weekend for the Cajuns.
           
Cajuns freshman Kate McMahon who won the round-robin flight eight, by taking both of her matches, including the deciding match in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 for yet another strong Cajuns finish on the weekend.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Doubles Semifinals): In the flight one main draw semis Louisiana’s freshmen pairing of Floriane Picaut and Dana Radovanovic faced off and defeated the Lamar grouping of Buchta/Bozhko 6-4 to move onto the championship match.
           
In the back draw of flight two, the Cajuns duo of senior Kelly Drew and Johnson took down the LU pair of Di Guilio/Garcia Molina 6-3 to earn the chance to play in the flight two back draw championship.
           
The final semifinals matchup involving the Cajuns took place in flight three and freshmen Morgan Forshag and Yatribi lost their match against the McNeese pairing of Carra/San Jose 6-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Doubles Finals): Drew and Johnson were attempting to snag themselves a championship, in the flight two back draw, and they achieved that goal taking down the McNeese pairing of Findley and Aranguiz, 6-3, to win the constellation doubles title in flight two.
           
Drew and Johnson came out on a mission and they didn’t let the McNeese duo get anywhere near them, and they controlled the match from start to finish to snag themselves the title.
           
In flight four, the Cajuns pairing of junior Carla Ortega and freshman Kate McMahon faced off in their own back draw championship match and they easily dispatched the split pairing of Taylor, from Southeastern Louisiana, and Garza, from Lamar, 6-2.
           
It was a match that the Cajuns pair controlled all the way through, and there wasn’t a moment where the split duo had a chance to get into the match as the Cajuns got their second doubles constellation title of the day.
           
Looking to win their second straight doubles title, Picaut and Radovanovic faced off against Northwestern State’s Ivanova and Avram.  In the match the Cajuns pair couldn’t get the momentum to swing their way and in the end, they fell 6-3 to lose the championship match and finish second in flight one.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Singles Finals): Yatribi was on a tear all weekend, and she didn’t drop a set in all three of her matches.  The flight seven championship match went no different as Yatribi stayed hot knocking off SLU’s Madina Vorotnikova in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to finish the best weekend she’s had in college so far.
           
Ortega came out on fire against UIW’s Alejandra Landaluce and without letting her breathe, smothered her opponent in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to get herself the flight six constellation title.
           
Taking place in flight eight McMahon won her match against SLU’s Yasmine Taylor in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 to give her two wins, both of which were her first career wins, over the weekend enough to take the title in the flight eight round robin.
           
In the flight one back draw final, Picaut faced off against SLU’s Fleur Holtkamp.  In the match Picaut never got into a groove and she dropped the match in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 to end her weekend.
           
Drew faced off against South Alabama’s Yu Fujiok and in a three-set battle Drew fell 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.  After taking the first set, Drew couldn’t hold off the storming Fujiok and she dropped the second set to force the third set.
           
The third set saw Fujiok come out and take the lead early and Drew, even though she dug deep looking to get back in it, couldn’t muster enough to come away with the win and dropped the third set and the match to finish second in flight two.
           
In the flight six final Forshag faced off against SLU’s Dalina Dahlmans.  Forshag showed a great effort throughout, but she never got a foothold in the match and dropped in it straight sets 6-3, 6-2.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Third and Seventh Place Singles): Johnson found herself in flight three’s seventh-place match against LU’s Keala Di Guilio.  Johnson, looking to finish the weekend on a high note, did just that keeping her composure through a tightly contested straight set victory 6-4, 7-5 to finish off her weekend positively.
           
Cajun Courts were filled with cheers for the Cajuns, when after straight sets, Garcia got her first win since coming back from her ACL tear, taking down PVAMU’s Shaddae Findley in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 to finish in seventh place in flight five.
           
Garcia never laid off her opponent, keeping the pressure on throughout while showing her trademark passion with every key point.  After almost letting the first set slip away, Garcia didn’t let Findley make any moves in the second set, and with an eruption of cheers from her teammates Garcia finished off Findley to get her first win of the 2017 season.
           
In the flight three, third place matchup Radovanovic took on McNeese’s Mastilovic.  Radovanovic fell in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1 to wrap up her tournament with a loss.  But Radovanovic did snag a win earlier in the draw giving her something to hang her hat on at the end of the weekend.

2017 Ragin’ Cajuns Invitational Day Two
September 30, 2017 at Lafayette, La.
Cajun Courts
Doubles (Main Draw Semifinals):
Picaut/Radovanovic (UL) def. Buchta/Bozhko (LU) 6-4 (Flight One)
Doubles (Back Draw Semifinals):
Drew/Johnson (UL) def. Di Guilio/Garcia Molina (LU) 6-3 (Flight Two)
Carra/San Jose (McNeese) def. Forshag/Yatribi (UL) 6-3 (Flight Three)
Doubles (Main Draw Finals):
Ivanova/Avram (NSU) def. Picaut/Radovanovic (UL) 6-3 (Flight One)
Doubles (Back Draw Finals):
Drew/Johnson (UL) def. Findley/Aranguiz (McNeese) 6-3 (Flight Two)
Kareh/Djurdjevic (UIW) def. Forshag/Yatrbi (UL) 6-3 (Flight Three 7th place)
Ortega/McMahon (UL) def. Taylor (SLU)/Garza (LU) 6-2 (Flight Four)
 
Singles (Main Draw Finals):
Yu Fujioka (USA) def. Kelly Drew (UL) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 (Flight Two)
Dalina Dahlmans (SLU) def. Morgan Forshag (UL) 6-3, 6-2 (Flight Six)
Kim Yatribi (UL) def. Madina Vorotnikova (SLU) 6-2, 6-4 (Flight Seven)
Kate McMahon (UL) def. Yasmine Taylor (SLU) 6-1, 6-4 (Flight Eight)
 
Singles (Back Draw Finals):
Fleur Holtkamp (SLU) def. Floriane Picaut (UL) 6-1, 6-1 (Flight One)
Carla Ortega (UL) def. Alejandra Landaluce (UIW) 6-2, 6-4 (Flight Six)
 
Singles (Third Place):
Marija Mastilovic (McNeese) def. Dana Radovanovic (UL) 6-1, 6-1 (Flight Three)
 
Singles (Seventh Place):
Abby Johnson (UL) def. Keala Di Guilio (LU) 6-4, 7-5 (Flight Three)
Marina Rodriguez Garcia (UL) def. Shaddae Findley (PVAMU) 7-5, 6-3 (Flight Five)