NEW ORLEANS –
Aliona Ladutska pulled out a 6-4 third-set victory Friday afternoon that ended the match and handed visiting Southland Conference women's tennis champion Northwestern State a tense 4-3 triumph at New Orleans.
With the outcome hanging in the balance, Ladutska prevailed in the No. 3 singles match 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 over Marta Sans, giving the Lady Demons their eighth victory in nine outings.
NSU (9-7 overall, 5-1 in the Southland) will visit Southeastern Louisiana (10-5, 3-4) Saturday at 11 a.m. to complete the road trip. UNO dipped to 10-8 overall and 2-5 in Southland play.
Friday's win kept the Lady Demons alive in their bid to defend their Southland championship. The only Southland unbeaten, Stephen F. Austin, won 5-2 at SLU Friday and will visit UNO Saturday.
NSU's triumph was powered by the top of the lineup in doubles and singles on a windy day next to Lake Ponchatrain.
"I am very proud of the girls, the way they fought and played. UNO played very well and we had to earn our win. The conditions were tough but the girls played very smart starting in doubles," said first-year NSU coach
Olga Bazhanova.
The nation's No. 60-ranked doubles team, NSU's
Tatiana Larina and
Natalya Krutova, looked the part in an 8-1 triumph to open the match. The Lady Demons quickly captured the doubles point with an 8-2 victory at No. 2 by
Polina Ivanova and
Kateryna Piatakova.
Krutova made it 2-0 NSU with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Anja Leuthi at No. 2 singles, but UNO's Harsa Laraibi quickly posted a 6-2, 6-1 decision over Piatakova at No. 6. Larina moved NSU's lead to 3-1 minutes later by closing out Soledad Calderon 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 1 match.
"Tatiana and Natalya got the ball rolling by playing very well in the top two spots," said Bazhanova. "Aliona did a great job under pressure in the third set as the final match on, to clinch the victory for the team."
UNO rallied to sweep the Nos. 4-5 matches and tie the overall score. Anna Segarra Rius prevailed 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 over Ivanova and Yasmine Rashad won by the same score over NSU's
Barbora Kollarova to tie the match.
But Ladutska responded to the challenge and handed NSU the overall win.
Krutova moved to 6-0 in league play and 11-4 overall in singles at No. 2. She and Larina are perfect in doubles in Southland competition and 11-1 overall. Ivanova fell in singles for the first time in conference play.
NSU 4, UNO 3 results
