NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State's young Lady Demon tennis team has regained momentum after sweeping two Southland Conference home matches, and now must rely on that confidence in three road matches this week, beginning Wednesday at Abilene Christian.
 
NSU is 7-9 overall with wins in six of its last eight matches. The Lady Demons beat New Orleans 5-2 last Friday and Southeastern Louisiana 4-3 on Saturday to pull even in the Southland with a 3-3 record heading into Wednesday's 4 p.m. match.
 
This weekend, NSU visits Nicholls Saturday and McNeese Sunday. The regular season wraps up at home next weekend against Lamar and Sam Houston State.
 
ACU is 13-5 overall, 3-1 in the Southland. The match was slated for March 13 but was postponed due to travel problems related to the major flooding in north Louisiana that week.
 
"ACU is a well-coached and disciplined team. It`s going to be a tough match for us and we have to continue to play good and aggressive tennis," said NSU coach Olga Bazhanova. "The girls are getting more confident with their games and we have to play consistent and stick with the right process as a team."
 
Two Lady Demons went unbeaten in last weekend's matches, freshman Polina Mutel and Iryna Vardanian.
 
Mutel's comeback three-set win in the No. 3 singles slot Saturday was the difference for NSU over SLU. She leads the team with 10 singles wins (10-5) and is 5-1 in Southland play, tied with sophomore Polina Ivanova for best on the squad.
 
Vardanian is 9-7 in singles playing the No. 2 position, and 8-3 in doubles, including a 6-1 mark with Mutel in the No. 2 position. They are 4-1 in conference.
 
Ivanova is 9-2 in singles, playing positions 4-6, and has a 10-1 doubles record, all but one match at No. 1 with senior Natalya Krutova.
 
Krutova continues to climb on NSU's career wins lists despite facing the best talent in the No. 1 position in singles and doubles. She has 56 singles wins, tied for sixth all-time. In doubles, her 64 career wins ties her with Bazhanova in fifth place. She is 11-3 in doubles this season and 64-14 in her career, an .821 winning percentage that is fourth in school history. Her .727 singles win rate is 10^th all-time.
 
Krutova is the team's only senior. Four players are in their first seasons at NSU.