Women's Tennis: April 19 Scoreboard
Southland Conference
Nicholls 6, Southeastern Louisiana 1
Stephen F. Austin 5, Lamar 2
Northwestern State 5, Sam Houston State 2
McNeese State 5, New Orleans 2
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 5, UIW 0
Nicholls 6, Southeastern Louisiana 1
THIBODAUX, La. – Sophomore Stephanie Barnett came away with a straight-set victory in the battle of the Southland Conference's undefeated No. 1 players to clinch the Nicholls State University women's tennis team's first regular season title in 20 years as the Colonels locked up the top seed in the conference tournament with a 6-1 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday afternoon at the Colonel Tennis Complex.
The Colonels cruised to the victory over the Lady Lions (11-9, 3-8 SLC), winning both completed doubles matches before going on to win the first five singles matches in straight sets. With the win, Nicholls finished the regular season with an 18-4 overall record and a 10-1 mark in conference, earning their first team title since 1995. Stephen F. Austin also claimed a share of the title after winning on Sunday against Lamar to finish 10-1 in the Southland. The Colonels won the head-to-head tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed in the Southland Tournament by defeating SFA, 4-3, last weekend on the road.
Playing in her final match at home, Kateryna Nakonechna helped set the tone early in doubles as she teamed up with Isla Brock for an 8-1 victory on the No. 3 court. Shortly after, Marie Aubert, also making her Thibodaux finale, and Milou Pietersz clinched the point with an 8-5 win on the No. 2 court. Barnett and Klara Skopac held a slim 6-5 lead at No. 1 before play was suspended.
In singles, only the No. 1 through 4 courts started play, with 5 and 6 scheduled to begin after the conclusion of the first two completed matches. The Colonels started out singles by winning the first sets in all four matches, highlighted by a shutout by Aubert on the No. 3 court. Aubert then showed why she will leave Nicholls as one of the program's all-time greats as she shut out Margaux Kaltenbacher in the second set as well to give the Colonels a 2-0 lead. The win improved Aubert's all-time singles record to an impressive 58 wins versus 23 losses.
On the No. 2 court, Skopac took her first set, 6-3, over Lucia Bustamente before closing out the match with a 6-1 victory. Skopac's win put Nicholls one point away from clinching the team victory.
With the anticipation of the Colonels winning the conference title, more spectators were in attendance than usual and most of them hung around the No. 1 court to watch the Southland's top two singles players battle it out. Barnett and Southeastern's Renee Villarreal both entered the match with 10-0 records in conference this season, and neither would disappoint.
Barnett won the first game against Villarreal and went on to capture the first set, 6-2. In the second set, she found herself trailing midway through at 3-2 before turning it on. The Melbourne, Australia native dominated the rest of the way, going on to clinch the team victory with a 6-4 win in the second set.
With the match already decided, the teams elected to finish out singles play. Pietersz pushed the score to 5-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Madina Vorotnikova on the No. 4 court. Brock also kept her undefeated conference record intact with an impressive 6-0, 6-1 win over Natalie Duran at No. 6. The No. 5 Southland singles champion last season, Brock followed up her 17-2 sophomore campaign with an even better singles record at 15-1.
In the final match of the day, Nakonechna let a first-set lead slip by as Dany Raygadas went on to win at No. 5, 6-3. Raygadas then prevented the shutout by winning the second set, 6-3.
The Colonels will head into the Southland Conference Tournament later this week as the top overall seed. Play begins Friday in Beaumont, Texas with the opponent yet to be decided. The field will be set after the two remaining Southland matches to be played on Monday are completed.
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Stephen F. Austin 5, Lamar 2
BEAUMONT, Texas – Stephen F. Austin closed out the 2015 regular season with a 5-2 victory at Lamar, clinching a share of the 2015 Southland Conference regular season title. The Ladyjacks finish the regular season with a 16-9 overall record and a 10-1 mark in SLC play, tying Nicholls for the conference crown.
"I am so proud of this team," said head coach Roberto Aspillaga. "Nothing has been handed to them throughout the year and their will to win has been tremendous all season long. Lamar is peaking late in the year and we had to deal with some of their best tennis today. They played us tough, but our girls were even tougher and I am incredibly proud of that."
With at least a share of the SLC regular season crown on the line, SFA opened up the day with an 8-5 victory by Valeria Terentyeva and Vivienne Kulicke in the No. 3 doubles slot. Julia Lorca and Denise Maxl fell 8-6 in the No. 2 spot but then watched Malena Gordo and Dhanielly Quevedo clinch the doubles point with an 8-6 win at No. 1.
Turning its attention to singles play, Kulicke raced out to a quick victory at the No. 2 spot, earning the 6-3, 6-1 decision. Gordo dropped a 5-7, 3-6 match at No. 1 as Lamar pulled to within a point at 2-1.
The final four matches of the day all went to three sets, beginning with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 victory by Maxl at the No. 3 spot, followed by a tough three-set loss by Quevedo at the No. 4 spot. Terentyeva then clinched the match and the regular season title with an 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in the No. 5 spot, followed by a grueling 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 win by No. 6 Lorca.
The victory wraps up the regular season for the Ladyjacks who will be the number two seed in the 2015 SLC tournament this weekend in Beaumont. Nicholls will be the top overall seed due to their 4-3 victory over SFA in Nacogdoches on April 12.
SFA will face the number seven seed (to be determined later) at 2 p.m. Friday, April 24, at the Thompson Family Tennis Center in Beaumont. Should the Ladyjacks win the quarterfinal match, the semifinal would be held Saturday, April 25, getting underway at 11 a.m., before the championship match Sunday at 11 a.m.
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Northwestern State 5, Sam Houston State 2
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Natalya Krutova remained perfect in Southland Conference play Sunday, winning in doubles and singles as Northwestern State cruised to a 5-2 win at Sam Houston State in the penultimate match of the Lady Demons' regular season.
NSU (12-8 overall, 8-2 in the Southland) visits Lamar Monday at 11 to wrap up the schedule. The Lady Demons will be back in Beaumont for the Southland Tournament beginning Friday, hoping for their third NCAA berth with a tournament win this decade.
Sustaining momentum for that competition is the priority now for NSU since it fell one win shy of defending the regular-season title, which was clinched Sunday by Nicholls and Stephen F. Austin, the only teams to defeat the Lady Demons in league play this year.
Krutova and Tatiana Larina raised their Southland record to 10-0 (15-1 overall) at No. 1 doubles with an 8-4 victory over Olivia Battye and Karen Martinez. Krutova rolled 6-2, 6-2 in No. 2 singles over Battye to go 10-0 in conference competition, 15-4 overall.
Larina took sole possession of seventh on the Lady Demons' career singles list with her 54th victory, a 6-4, 6-3 triumph at No. 1 over Fabienne Gettwart. The doubles win pushed her into a tie with coach Olga Bazhanova for fourth on that career list at 64.
NSU's other singles victories came at No. 4 by Polina Ivanova (6-4, 6-2 over Martinez) and at No. 5 from Kateryna Piatakova (6-3, 4-1 retired over Maddie Mortimore).
Emily Kerr and Aliona Ladutska's 8-3 decision in the No. 3 doubles started the match right for the Lady Demons.
Bazhanova was pleased with her team's response against a struggling SHSU squad (2-15, 1-9) with every win vital for seeding purposes for the conference tournament.
"It's an important win for us. We knew that it was not going to be easy," she said, "and the girls played to win today. We played aggressive at all of the positions and I am proud the way the girls competed. We got very good process and good tennis from Polina and Kate today. They executed very well."
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McNeese State 5, New Orleans 2
LAKE CHARLES, La. – McNeese women’s tennis team concluded their regular season Sunday and gave senior Andrea Nenu a win on senior day with a 5-2 victory over New Orleans.
The Cowgirls end the regular season 12-7 overall and 8-3 in the SLC. The Cowgirls will head to the Southland Conference Championship this weekend in Beaumont, Texas. Tournament seedings will be released Monday following an 11 a.m. match between Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Central Arkansas.
“This was a great win for us today,” said head coach Helena Besovic. “UNO didn’t give us much of a break and we fought hard through all the matches. We showed strong character today and I am very proud of our effort,” said Besovic.
The Cowgirls opened the match by picking up the doubles point after the no. 1 doubles team comprised of Klaudia Gawlik and Anastasija Trubich defeated UNO’s Marta Sans and Soledad Calderon 8-3 to give the Cowgirls the upper hand. UNO evened doubles play by winning on court three. It was up to the Cowgirls’ no. 2 team of Sarah Jurakova and Vivien Borbely to do the rest. After falling behind 0-4 to start the match, the duo regrouped and came back to pick up an 8-6 win to secure the doubles point.
McNeese went on to win four of the six singles matches to win the overall match. Gawlik, Hannah Brett, Jurakova and Trubich all won their singles matches. Gawlik and Brett won their matches in straight sets while Trubich won in three sets and Jurakova won in a thrilling third set tie-breaker 7-6 (7-0), 6-7 (3-7), 10-7.
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Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 5, UIW 0
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's and women's tennis teams cruised to victories today on Senior Day at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center. The No. 57 ranked men's team swept Texas-Pan American, 4-0, while the Islanders women's team blanked Incarnate Word 5-0 to improve to 6-4 in Southland Conference play.
"What an amazing day for these seniors that this incredible tennis community gave them," Director of Tennis Steve Moore said. "I say all the time that Corpus Christi is the best tennis community in the nation and I believe that even stronger after today. It's really hard to see such special kids graduate.
"Peter Nagy is maybe the most motivated and disciplined guy I have coached, and is such a high-character good guy. Chelsea Horan has such a great heart and is such a great teammate, and as high character of a player a coach could ever ask for. Venesa Figueroa loves the team with all of her heart and would do anything for her teammates. Both of those girls have worked so hard to come back from major injuries."
The women's team (12-8, 6-4 SLC) came out strong in doubles play to take a 1-0 lead over the Cardinals (2-21, 0-11 SLC). The freshman-senior duo of Horan and Jelena Dzinic breezed to an 8-1 win over Matea Zemunik and Antea Dedic at No. 2 doubles. The Islanders then clinched the point in the No. 1 slot after junior Celia Rodriguez and Judit Vives downed Rachel Sadiq and Sarah Savedra, 8-3.
A&M-Corpus Christi carried over its momentum into singles play to earn four straight-set singles wins. Junior Maider Martin started things off with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Malisa Vatanadilok at No. 4 singles to win her ninth consecutive match. She has tallied a 9-1 record in Southland play this season and a 16-3 overall mark in the No. 4 slot. Sophomore Kerry Galhos kept things rolling with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Dedic at No. 6 singles before Rodriguez clinched the match at No. 3 singles. The junior topped Savedra, 6-1, 6-1 to win her eight straight match. Rodriguez improved to 8-1 in Southland play while improving to 12-0 in the No. 3 spot.
Horan then tacked on the Islanders fifth and final point of the day with a straight-set win at No. 5 singles. She defeated Taryn Strahl, 6-0, 6-1 to improve to 5-3 in the conference.
The men's team took care of business as well in singles play with three straight-set singles wins after securing the doubles point.
The Islanders (17-6) also put together a solid performance in doubles action over the Broncs (9-12) as they clinched wins on courts one and two to garner the point. Junior Guillaume Rauseo and sophomore Kevin Bettendroffer teamed up for an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles over Ethan Ammon and Hector Ramirez. The Islanders' tandem of Nagy and freshman Arthur Bedel then edged out Juan Cruz Soria and Koby Jansen, 8-6, in the No. 1 slot to earn the doubles point for the Islanders.
Bettendroffer earned his eighth straight match with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Ramirez in No. 2 singles to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead. The sophomore improved to 13-4 in the No. 2 slot. Sophomore Paul Cook followed suit with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles over Ammon for the Islanders' third point of the day. The Islanders then secured the match when junior Ricardo Mayagoitia recorded a 6-1, 6-3 straight-set win over Elliot Johnstone in the No. 4 spot. It marked his third straight win in No. 4 singles and his 13th overall win of the season.
No. 97 ranked Nagy, who is the two-time Southland Conference Player of the Year was battling Cruz Soria at No. 1 singles when the match was clinched. Nagy dropped the first set 6-4, before battling back to win a 6-2 second set. Nagy is currently on a five-match winning streak and is just two career wins shy of matching Associate Head Coach Goncalo Figueiredo's program-best 67 wins.
"Just big respect for these three seniors," Moore added. "They really represent the culture and family that Islanders Tennis stands for. This team loves Peter, Chelsea and Venesa and they are part of the Islanders family always."
The women's team will conclude the regular season on Monday, April 20 in Belton, Texas against Central Arkansas at 11 a.m. while the men's team will prepare for the Southland Conference Tournament hosted by Lamar in Beaumont, Texas on April 24-26.
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