BATON ROUGE – Northwestern State junior Polina Mutel pushed No. 47 Elyse Lavender in their singles match Saturday, but Mutel and the Lady Demons ultimately couldn't scratch together a point against No. 22 LSU to open the season.

Mutel challenged Lavender in a 6-4, first-set loss before Lavender snatched the second set 6-1 in the No. 1 slot to finish off LSU's 7-0 team sweep.

"Mutel deserves a lot of credit because this is not an easy way to start the season against an opponent that I think could be ranked in the Top 10 by the end of the season," said NSU coach Freddy Gomez, who coached in his first match at the Lady Demon helm. "She showed a lot of character and poise, matching up well tactically with one of the best in the country.

"Playing a team like LSU exposes some things that we'll need to work on, but we'll take the positives from today and prepare for Tulane on Sunday."

Mutel and doubles partner Polina Ivanova also hung in against No. 73 Ryann Foster and Kennan Johnson, playing to a 4-2 unfinished set before LSU captured the other doubles match for the tiebreaker.

Four of LSU's five singles players are ranked in the ITA's Top 75, the only team in the nation that can make that claim. NSU didn't have a sixth singles player or a third doubles team because of injury, forfeiting those points.

NSU's Kateryna Avram (No. 4 position) took three games in the first set off No. 66 Jessica Golovin before falling 6-0 in the second set.

"After playing tentatively in doubles, I thought Katie did a really good job of having more presence on the court in singles play," Gomez said. "She didn't lower her head because she was down in the score, and she played her heart out every point."

In the No. 2 slot, Ivanova dropped 6-1, 6-2 to No. 73 Foster.

Tulsa transfer Ela Iwaniuk began her NSU career in the No. 3 spot, falling 6-0, 6-1 to No. 56 Eden Richardson.

NSU's Emilija Dancetovic lost 6-0, 6-1 to Johnson in the No. 5 spot.

The matches were played indoors at the LSU Tennis Complex because of rain.

The Tigers clinched the doubles' point when Richardson/Golovin topped Dancetovich/Avram 6-0.

NSU will continue its season-opening weekend at Tulane on Sunday starting at noon.

The Green Wave will be playing its first match of the season Sunday after posting its first 20-win season (22-7) in 2016-17 since Hurricane Katrina.

Tulane doesn't have any singles players ranked in the top 125 but did score a win against LSU this past season.

"We came in with a two-day plan, and we want to stick to that plan and execute it Sunday," Gomez said. "We're going to hit the reset button today, talk about Tulane and go hard (Sunday)."

Northwestern State at LSU
Tennis Match Results
Jan. 20, 2018 at LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, La.
 
Singles

1. No. 47 Elyse Lavender (LSU) def. Polina Mutel (NWST) 6-4, 6-1
2. No. 73 Ryann Foster (LSU) def. Polina Ivanova (NWST) 6-1, 6-2
3. No. 56 Eden Richardson (LSU) def. Ela Iwaniuk (NWST) 6-0, 6-1
4. No. 66 Jessica Golovin (LSU) def. Kateryna Avram (NWST) 6-3, 6-0
5. Kennan Johnson (LSU) def. Emilija Dancetovich (NWST) 6-0, 6-1
6. No player (LSU) def. No player (NWST) by forfeit

 
Doubles

1. Ryann Foster/Kennan Johnson (LSU) vs. Polina Ivanova/Polina Mutel (NWST) 4-2, unfinished
2. Eden Richardson/Jessica Golovin (LSU) def. Emilija Dancetovich (NWST) 6-0
3. No player/No player (LSU) def. No player/No player (NWST) by forfeit

 
Match Notes:
Northwestern State 0-1
LSU 1-0; National Ranking No. 22
Order of finish: Doubles (2), Singles (5,3, 4, 2, 1)