NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State tennis team pulled away late from Lamar on Saturday to continue its hot streak toward the end of Southland Conference play.

The Lady Demons won two of the final three singles points to secure a 4-3 win as NSU has taken five of its last six conference matches to improve to 6-3 in SLC play and 10-10 overall.

Sophomores Polina Ivanova and Alzbeta Veverkova won their singles matches to break a 2-2 tie and put Lamar away.

Ivanova topped Lamar's Talisa Merchiers (6-1, 4-6, 6-1) in the No. 4 position before Veverkova finished off Teodora Stefanovic (6-2, 6-4).

"We played very well in doubles and in all of the singles positions," Bazhanova said. "We played aggressively and moved forward. We didn't get frustrated with our misses.
"Lamar is a tough team to play, but our girls fought hard and finished off the match with those singles win after Lamar scored a couple of wins."

NSU will play its final regular season match at home Sunday (11 a.m. start) against Sam Houston State before heading to Nacogdoches, Texas, for the conference tournament beginning April 22.

On Saturday, the Lady Demons took the doubles point as the tandems of senior Natalya Krutova and Ivanova (6-2) and Barbora Kollarova and Veverkova (6-1) cruised to wins.

The Lady Demons went up 2-0 after Krutova made short work of Lamar's Andrea Ivanovic in a 6-1, 6-0 win.

"I played pretty well today, and I was consistent with all of my shots," said Krutova, who will be honored around 10:40 a.m. in a senior day ceremony to celebrate one of the most storied careers in NSU history. "(Ivanovic) made some mistakes, and I was able to break her foundation.

"Today didn't feel any different, but we'll see what it will be like tomorrow in my final home match. I'm really excited because I've had a great time here at NSU, and I want to see how I finish (my home career) Sunday."

Lamar battled back with two singles wins by Katya Lapayeva in the No. 2 position over Iryna Vardanian (6-4, 6-3) and by Luciana Di Laura in the No. 5 position over Kollarova (6-2, 6-0).

Bazhanova said a young Lady Demons' team has matured throughout this season, allowing them to pull away for the win.

"We are a young team, and we started slow this season," Bazhanova said. "But the girls are coming around, and I see the progress.

"They are playing more aggressively, and they know what it's about. Most importantly, they did it as a team. They know they have to fight, they know they have to put positive energy out for their teammates."

Along with Krutova, the program will say goodbye to senior Kateryna Piatakova, who couldn't play her senior season because of injury.

Piatakova was part of two NSU conference titles in her three seasons, and Bazhanova said her presence in lifting team spirit and giving advice has been valuable.

"Unfortunately I'm not playing, but I'm still part of the team.  I enjoy helping coach, and I'm enjoying my last semester here.

"I've met a lot of friends here, and I enjoyed meeting a lot of nice people, nice teachers. And of course I feel close to my coaches and my teammates."