DALLAS – SMU overpowered the Northwestern State tennis team 6-1 Saturday afternoon, handing the Lady Demons (0-3) their third straight loss to open the season.
The Mustangs (4-0) quickly took the doubles point with wins on courts two and three.
Junior Polina Ivanova and freshman Emilija Dancetovic fell first on court two to Sarai Yesaki and Ana Perez-Lopez 6-1.
On court three, Macie Elliot and Mary Wright of SMU took down freshmen Kateryna Avram and Vladislava Litvinova 6-2.
"We started pretty slow and our process was not there during the whole match," head coach Olga Bazhanova said. "SMU is very talented and pushed us back."
In singles action, NSU picked up its first individual win on the year and a pair of Lady demon freshmen pushed their opponents to tightly contested three-set matches.
Sophomore Iryna Vardanian dropped the first set on court two 6-3, but was up 2-0 in the second set when her opponent defaulted.
Litvinova stumbled early on court five, dropping the first set 6-2 to Charline Anselmo. She quickly turned around and pulled out her own 6-2 second set. In the final set, Anselmo got ahead early and finished the match 10-4.
Avram followed Litvinova's lead, falling behind to Ellie Zogg early 6-4, but coming back with another 6-2 second set. Avram's tie-breaking third set was tightly contested, but Zogg came out on top 10-6.
"The team spirit and chemistry is great and the girls fight hard on all the positions," Bazhanova said. "We have to be more consistent and stick with the process we work on every day in practice"
NSU returns home for the first time this season next week, playing three matches in four days at the Jack Fisher Lady Demon Complex. The Lady demons will play UL Lafayette Thursday at 12:30 p.m., Southern Mississippi Saturday at 11 a.m. and Louisiana Tech Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission to all Lady Demon home tennis matches is free.
Singles competition
1. Liza Buss (SMU) def. Polina Ivanova (NSU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Iryna Vardanian (NSU) def. Sara Monarrez Yesaki (SMU) 3-6, 2-0, default
3. Ana Perez-Lopez (SMU) def. Polina Mutel (NSU) 6-3, 6-0
4. Dasha Sharapova (SMU) def. Emilija Dancetovic (NSU) 6-0, 6-4
5. Charline Anselmo (SMU) def. Vladislava Litvinova (NSU) 6-2, 2-6, 10-4
6. Ellie Zogg (SMU) def. Kateryna Avram (NSU) 6-4, 2-6, 10-6
Doubles competition
1. Dasha Sharapova/Liza Buss (SMU) vs. Iryna Vardanian/Polina Mutel (NSU) 5-3, unfinished
2. Sara Monarrez Yesaki/Ana Perez-Lopez (SMU) def. Polina Ivanova/Emilija Dancetovic (NSU) 6-1
3. Macie Elliott/Mary Wright (SMU) def. Kateryna Avram/Vladislava Litvinova (NSU) 6-2
