Louisiana Opens Three-Match Road Trip Against Northwestern State

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's tennis team opens a stretch of three road matches in as many days beginning Thursday when it travels to Natchitoches to face Northwestern State in a 12:30 p.m. match at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.

Louisiana (1-1), which will also face Southern Miss on Friday and No. 24-ranked Mississippi State on Saturday, returns to action for the first time since last Sunday when it dropped a 6-1 decision at South Alabama.

Freshman Lucile Delabarre picked up her first career dual match victory for the Ragin' Cajuns with a 6-3, 7-5 win over South Alabama's Monica Mitta at No. 2 singles. Kelly Drew (1-1), Abby Johnson (1-1) and Carla Ortega (1-1) have each earned singles victories for Louisiana through the first two matches.

Johnson and Alexandra Way (1-1) have split in two matches at No. 1 doubles for Louisiana with Delabarre and Drew earning a 6-2 victory in their 2017 debut on Jan. 22 at Jackson State.

Northwestern State (0-3), which is making its home debut, was blanked matches at LSU and Tulane to open the season before dropping a 6-1 decision at SMU last Saturday. Iryna Vardanian earned a victory at No. 2 singles for the Demons – their lone victory in either singles or doubles play in dual matches this season.

Southern Miss (1-2), which faced Xavier of New Orleans on Wednesday, opened the season with a 7-0 win over Jackson State before falling to Florida Gulf Coast and South Florida. Alex Kitchen (No. 2 singles), Eiena Roca (No. 4 singles) and Tjasa Jerse (No. 5 singles) have each posted 2-1 records for the Golden Eagles.

Mississippi State (2-1), ranked No. 24 by the ITA and No. 25 by the USTA, opened the season with victories over UAB and Syracuse before dropping a 4-0 decision at Michigan on Jan. 29.

Jasmine Lee, ranked No. 44 nationally by the ITA, has posted a 2-1 record at No. 1 singles during dual matches. The nationally-ranked doubles team of Lee and Lisa Marie Rioux enters the weekend ranked No. 8 in the country, posting a 2-1 record in dual matches and 10-2 overall.

Louisiana will officially open its home schedule on Feb. 21 when it faces McNeese State in a 3:30 p.m. match at Cajun Courts.

Louisiana Opens Three-Match Road Trip Against Northwestern State

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Players Mentioned

Lucile Delabarre

Kelly Drew

Abby Johnson

Carla Ortega

Alexandra Way

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