Lady Demons Win 2015 Southland Tennis Tournament Title
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BEAUMONT, Texas – Third-seeded Northwestern State defeated top-seeded Nicholls 4-2 in the 2015 Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament championship match Sunday afternoon in Beaumont, Texas. The Lady Demons earned their second league tournament title in the past three years and have now claimed the championship crown a total of three times in program history.
Northwestern State (16-8) took the early 1-0 lead in the match after doubles play. The Lady Demons earned the clinching win at No. 1 as the all-conference first-team doubles duo of Natalya Krutova and Tatiana Larina remained undefeated against league opponents, defeating Nicholls’ all-Southland first-team doubles pair Stephanie Barnett and Klara Skopac, 8-6.
The Lady Demons’ tandem of Aliona Ladutska and Emily Kerr took the first doubles match of the day by topping the Colonles’ Kateryna Nakonechna and Isla Brock 8-5 at No. 3.
At second doubles, Northwestern State’s Kateryna Piatakova and Polina Ivanova were leading Nicholls’ Marie Aubert and Milou Pietersz 7-5 when the doubles point was clinched by the Lady Demons.
Northwestern then took a 2-0 lead in the match after Piatakova earned a dominant 6-0, 6-2 win over the Colonels’ Nakonechna at No. 5 singles. Nicholls (20-5) earned its first point of the match at No. 3 singles as Aubert defeating the Lady Demons’ Ladutska, 6-3, 6-1. Knotting up the match score at two games all was the Colonels’ all-conference singles player Brock, who ousted Northwestern’s Barbora Kollarova 7-5, 6-2 at the sixth spot.
The match came down to No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 singles, each going into a third set. Ivanova of Northwestern claimed a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 win over Pietersz of Nicholls at the fourth spot as the clinching match came down to the No. 2 singles match between all-conference selection Krutova and the Colonels’ Skopac. Northwestern’s Krutova was victorious in the deciding three-set match, defeating Skopac 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2 to remain perfect on the season against Southland opponents and more importantly give the Lady Demons their third conference tournament title.
Northwestern State claimed the tournament title after making an appearance in the championship match for the fifth times since 2010. The Lady Demons now own a 3-2 all-time record in Southland title matches with victories coming in 2010 and 2013, along with the tournament win today.
With the tournament win Northwestern State receives the Southland’s automatic bid into the NCAA championship. The selection show for the 2015 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship will take place this Tuesday, April 28 at 4 p.m. CST and can be watched live on
NCAA.com. First and second round NCAA competition will be held May 7-10 at regional sites on campuses around the nation, with 16 women’s teams advancing to Waco, Texas, for the NCAA championship hosted by Baylor May 14-19.