Women’s Tennis: April 20 Scoreboard
Southland Conference
Northwestern State 4, Lamar 3
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Central Arkansas 0
Northwestern State 4, Lamar 3
BEAUMONT, Texas – Northwestern State's Natalya Krutova finished the regular season as the only player in the Southland Conference to go unbeaten in singles and doubles in every league match as the Lady Demons posted a 4-3 win Monday at Lamar to wrap up the regular season.
NSU (13-8 overall, 9-2 in the Southland) will be the No. 3 seed in this weekend's Southland Conference Tournament hosted by Lamar, beginning Friday. The Lady Demons will meet Central Arkansas on the opening day, and could play No. 2 seed and regular-season co-champion Stephen F. Austin in Saturday's semifinals.
"Tough match today and it's a very good win for us," said first-year coach Olga Bazhanova. "The girls competed and fought hard. We did a very good job in doubles and earned each win in singles."
Monday, Krutova was first to finish in both doubles and singles. The junior, a candidate for Southland Player of the Year honors, teamed with senior Tatiana Larina to go 11-0 at No. 1 doubles in Southland matches, posting an 8-4 victory over Lamar's Carolina Maso and Katya Papayeva. Krutova blasted by Andrea Ivanovic 6-2, 6-1, to raise her Southland singles record to 10-0.
The doubles win pushed Larina into a third-place tie on NSU's career doubles win rankings with 65, one more than her coach, Bazhanova, had from 2009-12. Larina equaled the total by Kathrin Lange (2008-11), is two behind Bianca Schultz (67, 2008-11) and six back of record-holder Andrea Nedorostova (71, 2010-13).
Kateryna Piatakova and Polina Ivanova handed NSU the doubles point with an 8-4 decision at No. 2.
After Krutova made it 2-0, Piatakova posted a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 5 over Stephanie Marchena for a 3-1 NSU lead and Aliona Ladutska clinched the outcome with a No. 3 decision by 6-3, 6-2 over Anna Spengler.
Bazhanova was pleased to complete a sweep of matches at Sam Houston State and Lamar (9-12, 3-8) to build a three-match win streak heading into the tournament.
"I am proud of the way girls finished the weekend and the regular season," she said. "We played with the heart and determination that shows we are ready for the conference tournament this weekend."
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Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Central Arkansas 0
BELTON, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis team finished the regular season on a strong note as they blanked Central Arkansas, 4-0, at the Yvonne Li Tennis Center. The Islanders finished Southland play with a 7-4 record and have received the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament on April 24-26.
"I'm proud of their character and resiliency," Director of Tennis Steve Moore said. "They make me believe even more in the philosophy of totally selling out to assemble a team of high-character players only because they never quit and never break your heart by not showing up to play hard, even if they start slow."
The Islanders and Bears (9-7, 4-7 SLC) started the day in singles play and the Islanders came out strong and secured four straight-set wins to clinch the match. Sophomore Kerry Galhos put the Islanders on the board with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Amanda Alvarez at No. 6 singles before Maider Martin garnered her 10th consecutive win in the No. 4 slot. The junior downed Allison Murphy 6-0, 6-1 to finish 10-1 in Southland play.
A&M-Corpus Christi extended its lead to 3-0 after junior Celia Rodriguez topped Kristina Horsikyan 6-2, 6-4 to win her ninth straight match at No. 3 singles. Rodriguez improved to 9-1 in Southland action and 13-0 in the No. 3 slot. Chelsea Horan then clinched the match for the Islanders in No. 5 singles. She defeated Cassidy Crawford 6-2, 6-2 to finish with a 7-3 record in Southland play.
The women's team will now head to Beaumont, Texas to compete in the Southland Conference Tournament starting on Friday, April 24. The Islanders received the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 seed McNeese State at 11 a.m. in the opening round. The No. 1 seed Islanders men's team will face No. 4 seed Nicholls on Saturday, April 25, at 2 p.m.
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