After a 6-1 win over Grambling State in the spring season opener, the Warhawks traveled across state lines for a big-time matchup last Saturday with the Houston Cougars. But they returned to Monroe with a bad taste in their mouths after dropping the match 5-2. The matchup began at 10 a.m. with the Warhawks fielding a limited roster.  

Houston’s first home match became their first win of the spring season. 

“Even though we have only had five players practicing due to injuries and illness, we showed toughness today and played to win,” head coach Abdelrahman Zaki said. “It was a tough loss and a match that we could have won if we took advantage of all the game points we created, but unfortunately, never finished.” 

Zaki’s team looks to adjust and recover for this week’s away matchup against Louisiana Tech on Wednesday and Saturday’s showdown versus Nicholls State.

ULM’s Hala Badwy and Brianna Gomez won two singles for the Warhawks sole wins of the day. 

Zaki, who last week got his first career win, now has his first loss as a Division I coach. But he still had praise for his team in the face of fierce competition.

 “We had fantastic wins for Hala and Brianna who closed out their matches in two sets against tough opponents,” Zaki said.

ULM was swept in doubles competition as the Cougars took all three matches. 

On the first double, ULM junior Hala Badwy partnered with freshman Alessandra Anghel in a 6-4 loss. On the second double, senior Jimena Garbino and senior Madalina Grigoriu lost 6-3. Sophomore Giovanna Pereira and senior Brianna Gomez lost the third double by 6-3.

 Despite the defeat, Zaki said he believes that his players are competitive and is convinced that their mentality is still up to win the coming matches.