BEAUMONT, Texas – Senior captain Andrea Nedorostova's performance highlighted a spectacular team effort as the Northwestern State tennis squad overpowered Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-1 on Sunday afternoon to win the Southland Conference Tournament title and earn a spot in the NCAA Women's Tennis Team Championships.
 
The victory improves the Lady Demons' overall record to 14-7 while the Islanders finish the season at 17-4.
 
“If you can get everyone to play well at the same time it kind of makes the other team look around and see how tough this fight is going to be,” said Lady Demon head coach Patric DuBois. “We were prepared to battle it out on every court today and every single one of these girls stood out today.
 
“We had so many 4-3 matches this year so we have been used to the pressure all season. Coming into the tournament we expected tight matches again and they were so I think the regular season really prepared us for such good tennis here these last three days.”
 
This marks the second SLC Tournament Championship win for the NSU program, DuBois and Nedorostova. The Lady Demons also won in Nedorostova's freshman season in 2010.
 
NSU came out hot, winning two doubles matches to secure the doubles point and go up 1-0 heading into singles action.
 
Nedorostova and sophomore Tatiana Larina dominated in the No. 1 doubles match, defeating Doris Kuselj and Stefania Nicolae 8-3. Polina Konop and Natalya Krutova battled back from a 6-1 deficit at the No. 2 position to take down Sandra Burges and Chelsea Horan 8-6.
 
Larina kept the momentum going into singles play, winning the No. 2 match 6-3, 6-2 against Maider Martin to put the score at 2-0 in NSU's favor.
 
Konop captured the second singles victory for the Lady Demons, defeating Kuselj 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 1 spot.
 
The Islanders notched their first point when Horan took down NSU's Daniela Simonova 6-4, 6-1, putting the score at 3-1.
 
Nedorostova ended her SLC Tournament career in a fitting way, clinching the win for the Lady Demons as she bested Burges 6-2, 6-2 in the fourth spot.
 
“Today when we started doubles I was so nervous and I wanted to win so badly,” said Nedorostova. “We won the title when I was a freshman and now I'm a senior and it could have been the last match of my college career but it's not because we get to go to NCAA's.
 
“I wasn't even looking around at the other scores so I did not know if mine was the last match or not. I just decided to focus on my match and stay in my zone. When I saw how happy my teammates were after my match I knew we had won and I think I kneeled on the ground; I was just extremely happy.”
 
The Lady Demons will play a first-round match in the NCAA Team Championships on May 10 at a site to be determined.
 
 
Northwestern State 4, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 1
Beaumont Municipal Tennis Courts
Beaumont, Texas
 
Singles Competition
No. 1 - Polina Konop (NSU) def. Doris Kuselj (TAMUCC) 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 - Tatiana Larina (NSU) def. Maider Martin (TAMUCC) 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 - Stefania Nicolae (TAMUCC) vs. Natalya Krutova (NSU) DNF (2-6, 6-3, 1-0)
No. 4 - Andrea Nederostova (NSU) def. Sandra Burges (TAMUCC) 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 - Olga Leyshyna (NSU) vs. Celia Rodriguez Delgado (TAMUCC) DNF (6-4, 5-2)
No. 6 - Chelsea Horan (TAMUCC) def. Daniela Simonova (NSU) 6-4, 6-1
 
Doubles Competition
No. 1 - Larina/ Nedorostova (NSU) def. Kuselj/Nicolae 8-3
No. 2 - Krutova/Konop (NSU) def. Burges/Horan 8-6
No. 3 - Mia Matuszak/Maider Martin (TAMUCC) vs. Amy Williams/Simonova DNF (7-7)