LAFAYETTE – With his ace serve to complete a sweep on Court 4, Vasil Dimitrov stopped Florida Gulf Coast from pulling even in the match and secured the No. 70-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Men’s Tennis team’s 4-3 win on Tuesday, March 7 at Cajun Courts.
Dimitrov’s clutch service came at deuce in a 6-5 lead over FGCU’s Guglielmo Stefanacci in the second set and kept the Ragin’ Cajuns (7-6) from having to chance it in any type of tiebreaker scenario. It was also key in halting the brief momentum that the Eagles (6-5) had gained after claiming wins on Courts 1 and 2 to trim Louisiana’s match lead to 3-2.
Louisiana built its 3-0 lead over the visitors by claiming the doubles point after Karlo Kajin and Dimitrov finished off a 6-4 win on Court 1 with the Eagles still clinging to a 5-4 lead on Court 2, then in singles play got straight sets wins Kajin and Calin Postea to ensure a lead the squad wouldn’t relinquish.
The tone in doubles was set by Alejandro Sanchez Gonzalez and Lafayette native Grant Landreth dominating on Court 3 with a 6-0 win over Carter Bradford and Stefanacci.
Kajin, who was part of the doubles clincher, kept Louisiana moving in the right direction after being the first to finish in singles play following a commanding 6-0 second set win over Marcelo Sepulveda. Kajin continued his hot streak, extending his winning streak to seven straight games and improving to 10-1 in the Spring 2023 dual match season.
MATCH RESULTS
FINAL: Louisiana 4, Florida Gulf Coast 3
Mar. 7, 2023 at Lafayette, La. (Cajun Courts)
Singles competition
1. Johnson, Magnus (FGCU) def. Sanchez Gonzalez, Al (LA) 6-4, 6-2
2. Wilson, Randy (FGCU) def. Ferrer Chueca, Alejo (LA) 6-4, 6-4
3. Kajin, Karlo (LA) def. Sepulveda, Marcelo (FGCU) 6-3, 6-0
4. Dimitrov, Vasil (LA) def. Stefanacci,Guglielmo (FGCU) 6-1, 7-5
5. Postea, Calin (LA) def. Oncins, Eric (FGCU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Bradford, Carter (FGCU) def. Dworak, Kacper (LA) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles competition
1. Kajin, Karlo/Dimitrov, Vasil (LA) def. Johnson, Magnus/Wilson, Randy (FGCU) 6-4
2. Dworak, Kacper/Ferrer Chueca, Alejo (LA) vs. Sepulveda, Marcelo/Oncins, Eric (FGCU) 4-5, unfinished
3. Sanchez Gonzalez, Al/Landreth, Grant (LA) def. Bradford, Carter/Stefanacci,Guglielmo (FGCU) 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,5,1,2,4,6)
