BEAUMONT, Texas – For the fifth time in six years, Northwestern State has surged into the championship round of the Southland Conference Women's Tennis Tournament, and will play for a third trip to the NCAA Tournament this decade Sunday against top-seeded Nicholls.
 
The third-seeded Lady Demons (15-8) outlasted a valiant No. 7-seeded New Orleans squad 4-2 Saturday afternoon in a semifinal match to earn their third straight Southland Tournament final berth. They'll meet Nicholls, a 4-3 winner over No. 4 McNeese, Sunday at 11.
 
NSU won the tournament in 2010 and 2013 to reach the NCAAs. Nicholls, the regular-season co-champion and a 4-0 regular-season winner at NSU, has one Southland Tournament title, 20 years ago in 1995.
 
Saturday, the Lady Demons salted away the doubles point, then withstood a UNO rally and won the last three singles matches to claim their berth in the finals. Natalya Krutova's 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory at No. 2 clinched the outcome.
 
An 8-5 triumph at No. 3 doubles by Aliona Ladutska and Emily Kerr over Yasmine Rashad and Hafsa Laraibi locked up the opening point for NSU. Krutova and Tatiana Lariana remained perfect in 13 matches against Southland foes at No. 1 doubles with an 8-3 win over Soledad Calderon and Marta Sans.
 
UNO bounced back to snag a 2-1 match lead, as Anja Leuthi topped Ladutksa 6-1, 6-0 in the third singles slot and Laraibi posted a 6-2, 6-2 No. 6 victory over Kerr.
 
But Larina tied the score by posting a 6-1, 6-4 triumph in the No. 1 match over Calderon, and Kateryna Piatakova knocked off UNO's Anna Segarra Rius 7-5, 6-3 in the No. 4 match to put the Lady Demons on the verge of the overall win, and Krutova delivered it.
 
"It was a dog fight. The girls played with great heart!" said first-year Lady Demons coach Olga Bazhanova.  "It was a long match and I am very proud of the girls and the way they competed today. It wasn't an easy win and New Orleans fought hard and we had to earn each point. All of the girls did a tremendous job out there today."
 
In the singles match unfinished, NSU's Polina Ivanova held a 4-3 third-set edge over UNO's Rashad.
 
UNO finished 15-11 overall.
 
In the earlier meeting with Nicholls, the Lady Demons were edged for the doubles point, then were quickly defeated in three singles matches in Natchitoches on April 10. The following day, Nicholls won at Stephen F. Austin to move into a tie with SFA for the league lead.