Box Score NEW ORLEANS - Five players were all the ULM tennis team needed for a 4-3 win over Appalachian State in the opening round of the Sun Belt Championships.
ULM (13-5) has won first-round contests in four of the last five years and six of the last eight. It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
The difference for the Warhawks came in doubles, where one of the three matches was forfeited due to the small game roster. The Tiffany Mylonas/Luana Stanciu and Ioana Popescu/Patricia Villar tandems each picked up for each other with 6-2 and 7-6 (7-5) wins there to start ULM off on the right foot.
App State (7-14) picked up the free point on No. 6, and Mylonas routed her No. 2 court opponent with a 6-1, 6-0 decision. The two teams' trading of points continued with Stanciu's 6-2, 6-1 win on No. 5 and Villar's gutsy 7-5, 7-5 score in the clincher.
The Warhawks will now turn their attention to No. 46 Georgia State for a Friday 8 a.m. match.
Singles Competition
1. Clare Cox (APP) def. Pauline Van Herck (ULM) 6-1, 6-4
2. Tiffany Mylonas (ULM) def. Melissa Machado (APP) 6-1, 6-0)
3. Gabrielle Wreder (APP) def. Ioana Popescu (ULM) 6-2, 6-0
4. Patricia Villar (ULM) def. Mackenzie LaSure (APP) 7-5, 7-5
5. Luana Stanciu (ULM) def. Heidi Swope (APP) 6-2, 6-1
6. Rebecca Morse (APP) def. No player (ULM), by forfeit
Doubles Competition
1. Tiffany Mylonas/Luana Stanciu (ULM) def. Clare Cox/Heidi Swope (APP) 6-2
2. Ioana Popescu/Patricia Villar (ULM) def. Melissa Machado/Gabrielle Wreder (APP) 7-6, 7-5
3. Taylor Bygrave/Mackenzie LaSure (APP) def. No player/No player (ULM), by forfeit
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,2,3,5,1,4)
