BATON ROUGE – The New Orleans Privateers put up a spirited battle to begin the night but eventually fell 7-0 to the LSU Tigers in their regular season opener at the LSU Tennis Complex on Wednesday evening.
 
It was a spirited battle, particularly on the first two courts during doubles. LSU took the match at flight three 6-1 after securing an early break while holding off a rally from the team of Matthew Armbruster and Sergi Tintore.
 
At flight one, the two teams of Chen Dong and Stefan Latinovic (LSU) and Marcel Volz and Marc Mail (UNO) were practically inseparable. The teams split the first 40 points of the match. In the eighth game, the Privateers were serving to try to level the score.
 
However, Dong hit a big forehand winner off a return and LSU broke the Privateers’ serve on the next point. Latinovic served out from there to secure the doubles point.
 
Luke Joujan and Uwe Diehl were on serve, leading 5-4 against George Stoupe and Welsh Hotard when the point was decided.
 
In singles, it was Alessio Vasquez who got the Tigers their second point of the match. Vasquez won 6-3, 6-1. Dong followed with a straight set victory of his own as he won 6-1, 6-3 to put the Tigers on the brink up 3-0.
 
Julien Penzen clinched the match for LSU. He ripped off six consecutive games after falling behind by an early break to win 6-3, 6-2 at flight six. It clinched a 2-0 day for LSU who defeated the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns earlier in the afternoon.
 
The last match to finish was between Latinovic and Volz at flight one. Latinovic won the first set in a back-and-forth tiebreak. In the eighth game, Latinovic held serve at a crucial moment by winning the deciding point to stay on serve at 4-4.
 
Volz came back from way down on the scoreboard in the second set when he rallied from 5-0 behind to force another tiebreak but Latinovic again came out ahead, winning 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2).
 
NEXT UP
The Privateers open their home schedule on Friday against Southern. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
WE ARE YOUR KREWE
For 54 seasons, Privateer student-athletes have had the unique experience of wearing New Orleans across their chests.  Like the city itself, our sports teams have been fueled by resiliency, grit, and the unquenchable desire to win.  Our city also houses the nation’s biggest celebration each year. And much like a Mardi Gras parade krewe, we are tethered to our community through pride, tradition, a culture of acceptance, and finally our commitment to show that New Orleans is a world-class city to live, learn, play and work. We invite you to become more involved with the only University that truly represents New Orleans all day, every day.  Join #NOLAsTeam, We Are Your Krewe! 
 
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