NEW ORLEANS – As Northwestern State tries to stay in contention to successfully defend its 2014 Southland Conference women's tennis championship, the Lady Demons make a south Louisiana Easter weekend swing, visiting New Orleans Friday and Southeastern Louisiana Saturday.
 
The  Lady Demons are led by the nation's No. 60-ranked doubles tandem, Tatiana Larina and Natalya Krutova.
 
Both matches start at 11 with doubles play. NSU is 8-7 overall, 4-1 in the Southland after a 4-1 loss to the league's only remaining unbeaten team, Stephen F. Austin, on the road last Saturday.
 
UNO is 10-7 overall, 2-4 in the Southland. Southeastern is 10-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
 
NSU coach Olga Bazhanova said her team was ready to bounce back after the tough defeat in an intense match at SFA.
 
"We competed well but we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had to seize to win against a very good Stephen F. Austin team," she said. "But we are excited about this weekend's matches and hoping to play well against two good opponents."
 
Next weekend is the final home action of the season for NSU, April 11-12 against Nicholls and McNeese.