Nicholls tennis coach Harkins pleased with draws for men’s, women’s teams in SLC tourney

While the Nicholls tennis teams are at the lower end of the seed in their respective brackets, coach Greg Harkins said he is pleased with the draw for both the men’s and women’s team when the Southland Conference Championship begins Thursday in San Antonio.

The women’s team is the No. 10 seed and will have No. 7 Southeastern Louisiana at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

As the No. 7 seed, the Nicholls men will face the No. 2 seed, New Jersey Institute of Technology, an associate Southland member, at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The men’s final is slated for 4 p.m. Saturday and the women’s finish is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday.

After going winless in seven conference matches and sporting an overall record of 6-13, the Nicholls women will face as Southeastern Louisiana team that went 2-5 in SLC play and 9-11 overall.

When the teams met during the regular season in Thibodaux, SLU won the match 5-2.

Nicholls took two of three matches to win in doubles play but added only one victory in singles play when Constanza Cruz defeated Panatchakorn Suanarsa, 6-2, 6-4.

Although Nicholls only won one singles match, several other matches went three sets.

“We kind of knew that’s who we were going to play, so no surprises. We all know each other. It’s a good opportunity for the ladies,” said Harkins.

Nicholls has lost its last 12 matches, including the season finale to Loyola, 4-3. Playing their final match at home, seniors Carla Bouygues, Lea Grinberg, and Dareen Hassan all won their matches, building up a bit of confidence going into the conference tournament.

“Experience prevailed, so we’re going to rely on that again in the conference championships,” Harkins said. “We’ll assess everybody’s health and welfare. The girls are excited.

“They want to prove things not only for themselves, but for the school and the team. I appreciate what the seniors did, and I think we’re going to rely heavily on them again.”

Bouygues is 5-11 in dual singles play this season while Grinberg is 5-12, and Hassan is 3-2.

In doubles play, the team of Bouygues and Constanza Cruz is 5-9 in dual play. Grinberg and Aada Inna is 5-5, with Hassan and Noemie Piquet 3-2.

For Southeastern, Bente Bierma is 9-8 in dual play, Kate Oborina is 8-4, Taisia Bolsova 7-4, and Leah Gomez 7-8.

The team of Panatchakorn Suanarsa and Bolsova is 5-5 in doubles play. Bogi Csordas and Suanarsa is 4-4, with Alba Perez and Bolsova 4-3.

The men’s teams have not met this season with NJIT an affiliate member, but they have played each other in the past.

“We played them in the conference championships two years ago and beat them. We played them last year when they were ranked right outside the top 65 in the country. We beat them,” said Harkins. “So for us, drawing an indoor team down in San Antonio in the heat and a different climate…they’re a good team and they’re tough as nails. I know they want some payback, but we are we don’t have any qualms with that draw. Our draw is very favorable.

“You know we were ranked at the third-highest ranked team in the conference, but due to the seeding configurations, it ended up actually being favorable. Even though we ended up a lower seed it actually worked out OK for us.”

Since affiliate members NJIT and Bryant University didn’t play Southland schools in the regular season, national rankings help determine seeding in the conference tournament.

“We’re actually ranked ahead,” Harkins said. “Our ranking is the third highest in the conference, but our conference schedule, which is really challenging, kind of played against us. Lamar got hot at the right time, and they won two matches in the stretch. NJIT is tough. They are a great team. Everybody’s good. We’re a good team, too, but we’ll find out if we are a great team or not.”

Harkins said he likes his team’s draw moving forward.

“The two affiliate teams are playing against the two Louisiana travel teams. We could be playing UNO in the next round and that’ll be a bang-up match. It’s always close against them. Or if it’s Bryant, it’s another indoor team. We couldn’t of played out any different. You’ve got to win the matches. Nobody is going to give you anything, but we’re comfortable with where we are. We would like to see how far we can,” the Nicholls coach said.

Nicholls is 12-6 on the season and has won seven-in-a-row heading into the conference tournament. NJIT is 13-5.

Morsy is 9-7 in single dual play for Nicholls. Harry Collins is 11-2, while Antonio Sasso and Kotaro Matsumura are both 13-3. Quentin Lamothe is 6-4.

Collins and Matsumura are 11-6 as a doubles team, while Danail Banov and Sasso are 4-2, with Morsy and Lamothe 3-3.

For NJIT, Pablo Perez Ramos is 14-2 in dual singles play. Wil Jenkins is 13-3, O. Callo von Platen is 12-5, and Pavel Petrov 10-6.

The doubles team of Jenkins and Ramos is 13-3. Petrov and von Platen is 7-11, while German Lopez Andujar and Nejc Skorjanc is 5-3.

Getting off to quick starts, Harkins said, will be key for both the Nicholls men and women in the tournament.

“Get ahead in doubles and stay ahead, especially in conference play,” the Nicholls coach said. “Conference plays what they call ‘clinch/clinch.’ You don’t play everything out, so you need get ahead and stay ahead with momentum. We’ll see how well we do. The kids understand there is no letting up. We’re traveling a long distance too to get there, so let’s make the most out of it.

“I’m excited. The kids are excited. It’s always fun. Conference is kind of the year end of accumulation of a year’s work. We’ll see where all the chips fall. I’m definitely optimistic and excited for them.”