LAKE CHARLES – The McNeese Cowgirl tennis team will finally get to open up its home slate this week when it hosts Louisiana-Lafayette.
 
First serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the Nancy Hank Tennis Center on the McNeese campus. Free t-shirts and pizza will be available to McNeese students.
 
The Cowgirls (1-6) were originally scheduled to open the home season on Feb. 9 against Tyler Junior College but that was postponed to a later date.
 
McNeese is coming off a 7-0 loss to 20^th-ranked Texas A&M in its last outing while ULL (7-0) has yet to lose a match on the season and has defeated three Southland Conference schools in a row, including a 4-3 win over Southeastern Louisiana in its last outing.
 
The Cowgirls have had a tough early part of the schedule with five of their six losses coming to teams who have combined for a record of 34-11.
 
Marija Mastilovic has picked up wins over Louisiana Tech and Grambling in the No. 1 singles spot. In the No. 4 singles, Matilde Mulatero has wins against Georgia State and Grambling, and a hard fought loss in the Texas A&M Match. She also has compiled a 3-4 record in doubles action with wins over Georgia State, Louisiana Tech and Grambling.
 
The Cowgirls will start the doubles' portion of the match down 0-1 due to being able to field only five players for the match.
 
McNeese will return to action on Saturday when it hosts ULM then will open up Southland Conference play on Feb. 28 at Incarnate Word.