CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Northwestern State's No. 3 doubles tandem of Aliona Ladutska and Emily Kerr, with the match outcome hanging in the balance Sunday in a battle of the Southland Conference's last two NCAA Tournament entries, pulled out an 8-5 victory that handed NSU an impressive 4-3 triumph at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Natalya Krutova's three-set victory in the No. 2 position earned a split of the six singles matches, leaving the overall outcome riding on the doubles point.  NSU took the upper hand when Tatiana Larina and Krutova posted an 8-3 win at No. 1, but a nailbiting 8-7 (7-5) loss by Barbora Kollarova and Polina Ivanova in the No. 2 doubles contest left the decisive point hinging on the No. 3 result.

"Emily and Aliona played big under pressure in the last match on," said first-year Lady Demons' coach Olga Bazhanova, whose team improved to 3-0 in the Southland and 6-6 overall.

"It's a huge win for us. It was a dog fight on every court in singles and doubles. A big credit to the Islanders. They made us earn every point. Natalya had a very big win in singles to get it to the doubles point."

AMCC dipped to 6-6 and 0-2 in conference.

Ivanova opened the scoring with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Kerry Galhos in the No. 5 singles, but AMCC tied it with a 6-2, 6-2 No. 6 win by Chelsea Horan over Kateryna Piatkova.

Tatiana Larina lifted NSU up again by closing out her No. 1 singles match 6-2, 6-2 past Judit Vives, but the Islanders rallied to go ahead 3-2 with victories at Nos. 3 and 4. Celicia Rodriguez topped Ladutska 6-4, 6-2 in the third position and Maider Martin edged Kollarova 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 at No. 4.

Then Krutova recovered after a second-set loss for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 triumph at No. 2 over Jelena Dzinic to knot the team score 3-all and set up intense doubles action.

The Lady Demons, who have won four straight, come home for a non-conference match Thursday at 2 against Southeast Missouri, then host Abilene Christian next Sunday at 2 in a Southland contest at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.
 
Tennis Match Results

Northwestern State vs. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi

3/15/2015 at Corpus Christi, Texas
 
Northwestern State 4, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 3
 
 Singles competition 

1. Tatiana Larina (NWLA) def. Judit Vives (AMCC) 6-2, 6-2

2. Natalya Krutova (NWLA) def. Jelena Dzinic (AMCC) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2

3. Celia Rodriguez (AMCC) def. Aliona Ladutska (NWLA) 6-4, 6-2

4. Maider Martin (AMCC) def. Barbora Kollarova (NWLA) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2

5. Polina Ivanova (NWLA) def. Kerry Galhos (AMCC) 6-0, 6-0

6. Chelsea Horan (AMCC) def. Kateryna Piatakova (NWLA) 6-2, 6-2
 
 Doubles competition 

1. Tatiana Larina/Natalya Krutova (NWLA) def. Celia Rodriguez/Maider Martin (AMCC) 8-3

2. Chelsea Horan/Jelena Dzinic (AMCC) def. Barbora Kollarova/Polina Ivanova (NWLA) 8-7 (7-5)

3. Aliona Ladutska/Emily Kerr (NWLA) def. Judit Vives/Kerry Galhos (AMCC) 8-5
 
Match Notes:

Northwestern State 6-6, 3-0 SLC

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 6-6, 0-2 SLC

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,6,1,3,4,2)