HOUSTON – After opening with a comeback 4-3 victory last Sunday at Mississippi State, the freshman-laden Northwestern State women's tennis team tries to defeat Houston for a third straight season in a Saturday morning 10 a.m. match at UH's John E. Hoff Courts.
 
Four freshmen fill in the lineup behind senior Olga Bazhanova at No. 1 and junior Andrea Nedorostova in the No. 2 singles slot. Three of the newcomers won their matches at Mississippi State: Tatiana Larina at No. 3, Polina Konop in the fourth position and Amy Williams at No. 5.
 
Houston is 1-0 after blanking McNeese 7-0 last weekend.
 
“Houston is a much improved team and will be very tough to beat,” said Lady Demon head coach Patric DuBois. “Because of that, it's extremely important for us to get out to a good start by winning the doubles point, which we did not accomplish at Mississippi State. We know our new players can perform at a high level because they've done it. We don't know if they will be inconsistent like many freshmen can be. This will be an interesting match for us and a big challenge to beat a good Conference USA opponent on their home court.”
 
Bazhanova was the hero at Mississippi State and won Southland Conference Athlete of the Week honors as a result.  Her dramatic three-set win at No. 1 singles capped a remarkable comeback win..
 
Bazhanova fought off a second-set match point at No. 1 against 2011 Fall ITA Southern Regional quarterfinalist Ekaterina Iakovleva  and posted a thrilling 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory to cap a string of four straight Northwestern singles triumphs as the new-look Lady Demons rallied for a 4-3 victory at Starkville.
 
It was the season opener for the NSU women, who lost highly-accomplished standouts Bianca Schulz, Kathrin Lange, Adna Curukovic and Martina Rubesova to graduation after last season.
 
Bazhanova faced a match point down 5-4 in the second set but survived to force a tiebreaker, which she won 7-4. She went up 5-4 in the final set, then broke Iakovleva on four straight points to win it.
 
Twitter updates on the NSU-Houston match will be provided on the @UHCougarTennis account.