CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Led by All-Southland Conference first team selection, Natalya Krutova, the No. 1 seeded Northwestern State tennis team opens league tournament play on Friday at 11:00 against eighth-seeded Lamar at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center on the campus of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
The Lady Demons (18-5 overall, 11-1 SLC) earned the top seed in this season's tournament after claiming the program's fourth regular-season championship (1989, 1994, 2010), and shared the crown with the second-seeded Islanders. NSU just met with Lamar (8-13, 5-7) on April 18 in Natchitoches, and sent the Cardinals packing with a 4-0 shutout.
 
Krutova and three other members of the Lady Demon squad led the Southland in most All-Conference picks (5), and will enter this weekend's tournament on a three-match win-streak, including the win over Lamar, and the league's top two doubles duos in Polina Konop and Tatiana Larina, and Krutova and Kateryna Piatakova, respectively. 
 
The Cardinals have won four of their last five contests, including a 5-2 victory over Stephen F. Austin in their regular-season finale on Saturday.
 
Krutova has led the Lady Demons in both phases this season, posting a 15-3 overall singles record, 9-1 in league play, at No. 3 singles, and a perfect 10-0 mark at No. 2 doubles with Piatakova.
 
The tandem of Konop and Larina went 9-1 in Southland play at No. 1, and each posted highly competitive records in singles. Konop competed at No. 1 singles and Larina in the second slot to finish the regular-season 7-4 and 10-2, respectively.
 
The single-elimination style tournament continues into the semi-final round on Saturday, and the finale on Sunday at two o'clock. With a win on Friday, NSU will play the winner of No. 4 Nicholls vs. No. 5 Stephen F. Austin on Saturday at 2:00.