Women’s Tennis starts season with 7-3 record

Jude Papillion, Sports Editor

Following the abrupt end of their 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tulane women’s tennis team has a 7-3 record in their first ten matches this season.  

Green Wave women’s tennis began their season strong, shutting out Alcorn State University in a doubleheader at the City Park Tennis Center Jan. 21. The team was led by Mary Caroline Meredith, Adelaide Lavery and Cora Barber, who all won two singles points that day. Meredith also recorded two victories in doubles with her teammate Mackenzie Clark, and Lavery and Kristen Borland also won two doubles matches. The Green Wave took the first match 4-0 and the second match 7-0. 

Lahari Yelamanchili hits the ball. (Parker Waters)

Tulane women’s tennis then defeated Southern University 7-0 at home Jan. 23. The Green Wave went 3-0 in doubles competition, winning one by default due to Southern being short-handed. Tulane competed in and won five singles matches, winning an additional match by default. 

On Feb. 3, the team traveled to the Louisiana State University Tennis Complex and were defeated by the LSU Tigers 7-0 for their first loss of the season. The Tigers won all three doubles matches and dominated in singles, winning in straight sets on all six courts. 

Tulane bounced back on Feb. 7, shutting out the University of Louisiana at Lafayette 7-0. The Green Wave saw doubles victories from the duos of Yelamanchili and Barber, Meredith and Lavery, and Borland and Russell. They also swept all singles matches, including a pair of straight set wins from Meredith and Yelamanchili. 

The team traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to face the University of Alabama Feb. 12, but the Olive and Blue was unable to tame the Crimson Tide and lost 6-1. After the Tide claimed the doubles point in consecutive wins, Alabama kept their momentum and won five of six singles matches against the Green Wave. Clark was the sole singles winner for the Green Wave, defeating Sasha Gorchanyuk of Alabama. 

Tulane battled Mississippi State University in their third Southeastern Conference matchup of the season. The squad fell to the Bulldogs 7-0 in Starkville, Mississippi Feb. 14. Mississippi State won the doubles point over Tulane and then proceeded to shutout the Green Wave in singles, winning the first set on all six courts and the second set in five of the six matches, clinching the match win. 

Charlotte Russell hits the ball. (Parker Waters)

The Green Wave returned to the City Park Tennis Center where they continued their home dominance, defeating Southeastern Louisiana University 6-1 for Tulane’s seventh straight home win. Tulane’s duos of Yelamanchili and Russell, Lavery and Borland, and the 54th-ranked duo of Meredith and Clark swept Southeastern Louisiana to claim the doubles point. In singles, the Green Wave saw victories from Lavery, Borland, Yelamanchili, Russell and Barber while Meredith fell to Southeastern’s Putri Insani. 

Tulane’s home dominance continued against University of South Alabama who fell to the Green Wave 4-2. Yelamanchili and Russell along with Lavery and Borland started the day strong by winning the doubles point. Tulane saw four victories from Clark, Lavery, Borland and Yelamanchili, but South Alabama’s two singles wins over Meredith and Russell were not enough to win the match for the Jaguars. 

This weekend, the Green Wave will travel to Birmingham, Alabama to challenge the Samford University Bulldogs on Saturday, Mar. 6 and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers Mar. 7. 

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