NEW ORLEANS – After receiving a No. 72 national ranking from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association earlier this week, the Northwestern State tennis team hits the road to take on No. 20 Auburn on Saturday at ten o 'clock at City Park in New Orleans, and No. 58 LSU on Sunday at noon in Baton Rouge.
 
The Lady Demons, currently holding a 2-1 overall record, came away with a 4-3 win over Southern Mississippi last Saturday, and later dropped that same decision to Alabama-Birmingham on Sunday.
 
Standouts for NSU include Kateryna Piatakova and Natalya Krutova at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively. The duo combines at second doubles for a perfect 3-0 record. Polina Konop and Tatiana Larina also hold seamless records at No. 1 singles at 2-0.
 
AU enters Saturday with a 4-1 mark, dropping just one match to No. 17 Texas. Sophomore Pleun Burgmans ranks 20^th in the nation as she boasts an 11-5 record at No. 1 singles while junior Emily Flickinger currently ranks No. 68 in the nation, holding an 8-2 mark at second singles. The pair is currently 3-0 at first doubles to note No. 15 in the nation.
 
LSU (4-2) split matches last weekend, taking a win from No. 75 Southern Methodist and suffered the loss to Florida State. Joana Vale Costa holds solid at first singles at 3-0, followed by Abigail Owens and Skylar Holloway posting 2-0 marks at fourth and fifth singles, respectively. Vale Costa and Holloway currently sit at 3-1 in No. 1 doubles.
 
Northwestern State will make its home debut against Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas-San Antonio on Feb. 22 and 23, respectively. Both matches are slated to begin at 10:00 at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.