MONROE, La. - The ULM women's tennis team is kicking off the 2019 spring season with a visit to SEC opponent Arkansas on Friday (Jan. 25). The Warhawks will face only six non-conference opponents this year before playing in the first ever true, round-robin conference schedule.
Where the Warhawks lack in age, they make up for in talent. Head coach
Terrence De Jongh is heading into the 2019 season with nine on his squad, including junior returners
Madalina Grigoriu and Karlina Snita and sophomores
Teodora Radu and
Florencia Salerno. De Jongh has also brought on board five freshmen:
Emilia Alfaro,
Angeles Maria Cueto,
Jimena Paula Garbino,
Shivani Manjanna, and
Tiffany Phaysouphan.
Fall competition led to a combined 27-29 record for the Warhawks, with freshman
Emilia Alfaro walking away with a team best 6-5 record; one loss came to teammate
Karolina Snita at the ITA Division I Southern Womens Regional Championships.
Alfaro saw wins against competitors from Tulane University, Samford, and Mississippi State while playing at the ITA Regionals in October.
Freshman
Angeles Maria Cueto also saw some success on the court, including a 3-1 showing at the Missouri State Fall Invite, where she defeated Sneha Sinha (Southeast Missouri), Qili Ma (Central Arkansas), and Alexia Meyer (Missouri State).
Arkansas opened their spring slate strong, sweeping a doubleheader at Kennesaw Friday afternoon and downing Saint Louis 7-0 at home last Sunday. Friday's match will be the Hogs' third straight home match this month.
Freshmen Thea Rice and Laura Rijkers competed in their first collegiate matches, both going 2-0 singles play. Sophomores Tatum Rice and Martina Zerulo lead the team in singles play going into the weekend, with both Razorbacks winning their three matches.
Friday's match is the 14th time that the Hogs will face the Warhawks, holding a wide 10-3 series advantage. The last match between the teams was in 1997 when the school was known as Northeast Louisiana. Arkansas earned a 7-2 victory.
Live stats for Friday's match are available
here.
