Ragin' Cajuns Fight Off Late Charging UTSA

SAN ANTONIO – It came down to the final match of the day at No. 3 singles, but senior Vlad Kramarov was up to the task as his three-set battle finished with him on top and it gave the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's tennis team a hard-fought 4-3 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners at the UTSA Tennis Center.

Kramarov's clinching score was 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 as he came storming back after losing the first set, refusing to let the Roadrunners steal victory from the Cajuns. Sophomore's Elio Lago and Pearse Dolan each won their matches in straight sets, with Lago winning at No. 4, 6-2, 7-6 and Dolan taking his match at No. 5, 6-2, 6-3.

Freshman Pierce Gilheany and Dolan remained unbeaten together in doubles improving to 5-0 in the spring, and the win improved the Cajuns record to 5-4 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Doubles): Louisiana came out strong in doubles, when the unbeaten duo of Gilheany and Dolan, playing No. 2 doubles, got the Cajuns their first win of the day, beating the UTSA pair of Ceolin/Gonzalez 6-1. The Cajuns wrapped up the doubles point at No. 1 when Kramarov and Dolan snagged a 6-1 win over the Roadrunner's pairing of Reckow/Poestinger.

The two quick wins meant the Cajuns took a 1-0 lead into singles play as they looked to get their second swing of the season through Texas off to a strong start.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Singles): Dolan got things off on the right foot for the Cajuns when at No. 5 he took care of UTSA's Joao Ceolin in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to put the Cajuns up 2-0. Shortly thereafter the Roadrunners got on the board with a straight set win at No. 6, when Patrick Poestinger beat the Cajuns Gilheany, 6-3, 6-4.

With the score sitting at 2-1, Louisiana got one win closer when at No. 4, Lago won his match against Javier Gonzalez 6-2, 7-6. Lago made sure to finish off Gonzalez in the second set tiebreaker, not allowing things to continue to a third set and it put the Cajuns up 3-1 in the match.

UTSA's Juri Reckow, at No. 1, beat Louisiana sophomore Jamie Fraser in straight sets, 7-5, 7-3, to pull the Roadrunners a bit closer to the Cajuns. It was at No. 2 that the tone was set for the strong finish by the Cajuns.

With two matches remaining and the Cajuns up by only one-point, junior Arthur Libaud dug in deep to make his match at No. 2 a tough one for UTSA's Kai Breitbach to win. Although Breitbach would win the three-set battle, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6, Libaud's second set and near comeback in the third set, was all the motivational fuel the Cajuns needed to finish things off in the final match.

At No. 3, Kramarov did just that. Much like Libaud, Kramarov dropped his first set, although he didn't lose it without putting up a fight falling in a tiebreaker. But he flipped the script in the second set, taking the tiebreaker, and after seeing Libaud fighting hard right next to him on the courts, he went into another gear and won his third set running away.

The final of Kramarov's match sat at 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, and for the Cajuns they had shown great character fighting off UTSA's late charge to come away with the 4-3 win.

NOTEWORTHY: Gilheany and Dolan as a pair are now 5-0 in the spring season; Kramarov and Dolan both improve to 6-2 in singles through the spring season; The win means the Cajuns have now won two straight against UTSA.

UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana wraps up their trip to San Antonio on Sunday, Feb. 4 with a matchup at Incarnate Word with that first serve scheduled for 10 a.m. The Cajuns stay on the road the following weekend with a trip east to Old Dominion on Saturday, Feb. 10 and VCU on Tuesday, Feb. 13 before finally returning home for five straight matches at Cajun Courts starting on Saturday, Feb. 17 with a doubleheader against Jackson State.

FOLLOWING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS: Follow the Cajuns on twitter @RaginCajunsMT for updates during the matches, along with links to any live stats provided and a link to the final recap following the day's action.

Louisiana 4, UTSA 3
February 2, 2018 at San Antonio, Texas (UTSA Tennis Center)
Doubles:
1.) Kramarov/Lago (LA) def. Reckow/Postinger (UTSA) 6-1
2.) Dolan/Gilheany (LA) def. Ceolin/Gonzalez (UTSA) 6-1
3.) Libaud/Fraser (LA) vs. Bugiga/Breitbach (UTSA) DNF
Order of finish: 2, 1*

Singles:
1.) Juri Reckow (UTSA) def. Jamie Fraser (LA) 7-5, 6-3
2.) Kai Breitbach (UTSA) def. Arthur Libaud (LA) 6-4, 0-6, 7-6
3.) Vlad Kramarov (LA) def. Gabriel Bugiga (UTSA) 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
4.) Elio Lago (LA) def. Javier Gonzalez (UTSA) 6-2, 7-6
5.) Pearse Dolan (LA) def. Joao Ceolin (UTSA) 6-2, 6-3
6.) Patrick Poestinger (UTSA) def. Pierce Gilheany (LA) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 6, 4, 1, 2, 3*

Records:
Louisiana: 5-4
UTSA: 1-4

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Ragin' Cajuns Fight Off Late Charging UTSA

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Pearse Dolan

Jamie Fraser

Pierce Gilheany

Vlad Kramarov

Elio Lago

Arthur Libaud