BEAUMONT, Texas – Northwestern State's Natalya Krutova finished the regular season as the only player in the Southland Conference to go unbeaten in singles and doubles in every league match as the Lady Demons posted a 4-3 win Monday at Lamar to wrap up the regular season.
 
NSU (13-8 overall, 9-2 in the Southland) will be the No. 3 seed in this weekend's Southland Conference Tournament hosted by Lamar, beginning Friday. The Lady Demons will meet Central Arkansas on the opening day, and could play No. 2 seed and regular-season co-champion Stephen F. Austin in Saturday's semifinals.
 
"Tough match today and it's a very good win for us," said first-year coach Olga Bazhanova. "The girls competed and fought hard. We did a very good job in doubles and earned each win in singles."
 
Monday, Krutova was first to finish in both doubles and singles. The junior, a candidate for Southland Player of the Year honors, teamed with senior Tatiana Larina to go 11-0 at No. 1 doubles in Southland matches, posting an 8-4 victory over Lamar's Carolina Maso and Katya Papayeva. Krutova blasted by Andrea Ivanovic 6-2, 6-1, to raise her Southland singles record to 10-0.
 
The doubles win pushed Larina into a third-place tie on NSU's career doubles win rankings with 65, one more than her coach, Bazhanova, had from 2009-12. Larina equaled the total by Kathrin Lange (2008-11), is two behind Bianca Schultz (67, 2008-11) and six back of record-holder Andrea Nedorostova (71, 2010-13).
 
Kateryna Piatakova and Polina Ivanova handed NSU the doubles point with an 8-4 decision at No. 2.
 
After Krutova made it 2-0, Piatakova posted a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 5 over Stephanie Marchena for a 3-1 NSU lead and Aliona Ladutska clinched the outcome with a No. 3 decision by 6-3, 6-2 over Anna Spengler.
 
Bazhanova was pleased to complete a sweep of matches at Sam Houston State and Lamar (9-12, 3-8) to build a three-match win streak heading into the tournament.
 
"I am proud of the way girls finished the weekend and the regular season," she said. "We played with the heart and determination that shows we are ready for the conference tournament this weekend."
 
Northwestern State 4, Lamar 3
 
Singles competition
1. Lapayeva, Katya (LU) def. Tatiana Larina 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. Natalya Krutova (NSU) def. Ivanovic, Andrea 6-2, 6-1
3. Aliona Ladutska (NSU) def. Spengler, Anna  6-3, 6-2
4. Maso, Carolina (LU) def. Polina Ivanova 7-6 (3-0), 6-3
5. Kateryna Piatakova (NSU) def. Marchena, Stephanie 6-3, 6-1
6. Elfving, Hanna (LU) def. Barbora Kollarova 6-3, 6-4
 
Doubles competition
1. Tatiana Larina/Natalya Krutova (NSU) def. Lapayeva, Katya/Maso, Carolina  8-4
2. Kateryna Piatakova/Polina Ivanova (NSU) def. Spengler, Anna/Ivanovic, Andrea  8-4
3. Marchena, Stephanie/Elfving, Hanna (LU) def. Aliona Ladutska/Emily Kerr 8-7
 
Match Notes:
Northwestern State 13-8, 9-2 SLC
Lamar 9-12, 3-8 SLC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,4,5,3,6,1)