NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State tennis team pieced together its first winning streak of the season by flying past Air Force 5-1 on Friday at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.
The Lady Demons (3-7, 0-1 Southland Conference) beat Arkansas Tech this past Sunday and have won three of their past four matches.
NSU swept the doubles point before winning four of the five singles' matches that finished.
"First of all, Air Force is a mentally tough team that's talented, and they were willing to do what it took to compete," said NSU coach
Olga Bazhanova. "I'm very happy about our doubles point because our girls started moving and closing.
"In singles, our girls took advantage of the momentum and played aggressively. It's important for us as a young team to be more confident, and as long as they play their game and play aggressively, we'll be successful."
The Lady Demons continue their home stand with a doubleheader Saturday, first against Southland Conference foe Incarnate Word at 11 a.m. and then against Grambling at 2 p.m.
On Friday, NSU started with the doubles point with partners
Natalya Krutova/
Polina Ivanova and
Iryna Vardanian/
Polina Mutel each winning 6-2.
"The doubles point helps a lot, and we're known for being a good doubles team," Krutova said. "(Ivanova) and I, we did a good job of taking the ball on the rise and being very aggressive.
"We were able to take space and time away from our opponents today. It was very important for all of us to get a win today because we've had a little rough start to the season. But as we get deeper into conference play, we're getting more confident and playing better."
Krutova took her singles match in the No. 1 position 6-0, 6-3 over Mary Meyers.
"I was moving my feet and stepping to the ball," Krutova said. "I was trying to get that extra ball on the other side to give her a headache."
The Lady Demons won in the No. 2 spot (Vardanian 6-3, 6-3 over Chloe Forlini), the No. 4 position (
Barbora Kollarova 4-6, 6-2, 10-5 over Lily Forini) and the No. 5 spot (Ivanova 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 over Jocelle Rudico).
Air Force's Elizabeth Barnickel won the Falcons' only point in the No. 3 singles spot, beating
Polina Mutel 2-6, 6-2, 10-8.
"I moved pretty well today, and I tried to take the ball on the rise," Vardanian said. "(In doubles), (Mutel) is a great volley player, and my ground strokes worked pretty well today. We matched together."
