NATCHITOCHES – Southeastern Louisiana won four straight singles matches Saturday afternoon to surge past Northwestern State 4-3, moving within one victory of the Southland Conference women's tennis regular-season championship.
 
The Lady Demons (9-6 overall, 4-2 in the Southland) were tied for second in the conference standings before the narrow defeat to the league-leading Lady Lions (17-2, 7-1). Sunday, NSU will wrap up its home schedule with a noon match against Nicholls State at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex as senior Andrea Nedorostova can tie the school record for career doubles wins (67).
 
Morgane Charpenne's 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory for Southeastern in the No. 5 singles match completed the Lady Lions' comeback Saturday.
 
“This was a very tough loss,” said Lady Demon coach Patric DuBois. “I give a lot of credit to Southeastern Louisiana as they hung around long enough to pull out the victory.
 
“We played solid doubles today and had strong performances from Polina (Konop) and Tatiana (Larina) in singles,” he said. “I felt we let a few spots slip away in singles, but credit Southeastern for pulling them out.”
 
Nedorostova combined with Larina for an 8-3 win in the No. 1 doubles to swing the opening doubles point NSU's way. Konop and Natalya Krutova teamed to post an 8-6 win in the No. 2 doubles for the Lady Demons.
 
Konop powered to a 7-5, 6-0 triumph in the No. 1 singles as Larina posted a 6-1, 6-3 win in the No. 2 match, moving the Lady Demons one point away from capturing the match.
 
But Southeastern's Valya Rusakova won the No. 4 singles, Renee Villarreal remained perfect this season in singles at No. 3 with a three-set 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 decision over NSU's Krutova, and Isabel Brito squared the score with a 7-5, 6-4 triumph at No. 6.
 
 
Southeastern Louisiana 4, Northwestern State 3
 
Southland Conference Women's Tennis at Jack Fisher Tennis Complex, NSU
 
Doubles:
 
Tatiana Larina-Andrea Nedorostova (NSU) 8-3 over Valya Rosakova-Nastya Tokareva
 
Natalya Krutova-Polina Konop (NSU) 8-6 over Adriana Castillo-Renee Villarreal
 
Isabel Brito-Reginka Nychytailova (SLU) 8-4 over Amy Williams-Daniela Simonova 8-4
 
 
Singles:
 
Konop (NSU) 7-5, 6-0 over Tokoreva
 
Larina (NSU) 6-1, 6-3 over Nychytailova
 
Villarreal (SLU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 over Krutova
 
Rusakova (SLU) 6-2, 7-5 over Nedorostova
 
Morgane Charpenne (SLU) 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 over Olga Leyshyna
 
Brito (SLU) 7-5, 6-4 over Simonova
 
 
 
Order of finish
 
Doubles: 2-3-1
 
Singles: 1-2-4, 6-3-5
 
Records:  NSU 9-6 overall, 4-2 in the Southland; SLU 17-2, 7-1.
 
Attendance: 125