Northwestern State to Play for Tournament Title after Defeating New Orleans 4-2

Northwestern State to Play for Tournament Title after Defeating New Orleans 4-2

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Southland Conference

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BEAUMONT, Texas – Third-seeded Northwestern State defeated upset-minded seventh-seeded New Orleans 4-2 in the 2015 Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament semifinals Saturday afternoon in Beaumont, Texas. The Lady Demons advanced to their third-straight Southland tournament championship match with the win and are seeking their second league tournament title in the past three years.
 
Northwestern State took the doubles point after wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. The first-team all-conference duo of Natalia Krutova and Tatiana Larina remained perfect against Southland opponents this season at the top position as they beat New Orleans’ Soledad Calderon and Marta Sans by a count of 8-3. At third doubles, the Lady Demons’ Aliona Ladutska and Emily Kerr earned an 8-5 victory over the Privateers’ Yasmine Rashad and Hafsa Laraibi.
 
No. 2 doubles was left unfinished with Northwestern’s Polina Ivanova and Kateryna Piatakova tied at 6-6 with UNO’s Anna Segarra Rius and Anja Luethi.
 
In singles play, UNO grabbed wins at the third and sixth positions while Northwestern earned victories at the first, second and fourth spots to clinch the match. At No. 3 singles the Privateers’ Luethi won by a convincing score of 6-1, 6-0 against the Lady Demons’ Ladutska as Laraibi of UNO got a 6-2, 6-2 win over Northwestern’s Kerr. At the top spot the Lady Demons’ Larina was a 6-1, 6-4 winner over the Privateers’ Calderon, while Northwestern’s Piatakova defeated UNO’s Segarra, 7-5, 6-3.
 
The Lady Demons’ all-conference singles player Krutova continued her undefeated season against league competitors at the No. 2 spot as she knocked off UNO’s Sans in three-sets 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 to clinch the winning point.
 
The Lady Demons (15-8) will now face No. 1 seed Nicholls (20-4) tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. CST in Beaumont for the 2015 Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament title. The Colonels earned a 4-3 win over fourth-seeded McNeese State in the other semifinals Saturday afternoon.
 
Earlier this month, Nicholls was a 4-0 winner at Northwestern State on April 10.
 
Northwestern State has now made the tournament championship match a total of five times since 2010 and will be playing for its third overall tournament title. The Lady Demons hold a 2-2 record in those title matches with championship wins coming in 2010 and 2013.
 
The winner of the Southland tournament championship match will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA championship.
 
Admission is free to all matches of the Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament, for more information regarding results, records and more please visit Southland.org.