NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State tennis head coach Patric DuBois has announced that Aliona Ladutska and Petya Simeonova will be joining the university family as members of the Lady Demon tennis team in the 2013-14 season.
 
“We are very excited that Aliona and Petya will be joining the NSU Lady Demon tennis team,” said DuBois. “Both are very good athletes with strong tennis backgrounds. They will certainly be impact players for the Lady Demons.”
 
Ladutska, a native of Minsk, Belarus, has been ranked in the top three juniors in Belarus in all age groups. She is currently ranked 450 in the world in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings.
 
Ladutska was the singles national champion in 2008 and 2010 and won the consolation bracket of the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl Championships in Miami, Florida in 2010.
 
She is accomplished in the classroom as well, ranking fourth in her graduating class. Ladutska plans to study biology at Northwestern State.
 
From Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Simeonova has also had great success in athletics and academics.
 
She has been ranked in the top four juniors in Bulgaria her entire junior career and has been a singles finalist in the Bulgarian Masters Tournament, which is comprised of the top eight juniors in the country, twice. Simeonova has won several singles and doubles national championships throughout her junior career in Bulgaria.
 
Academically, Simeonova ranks third in her graduating class. She plans to study business while at NSU.
 
“Aliona and Petya are strong students and wonderful people,” said DuBois. “They will fit in well with our current group of student-athletes who do well on the court, in the classroom and are good ambassadors for Northwestern State.”