NATCHITOCHES—Dominating early in doubles play and pushing past deficits in singles were keys to Northwestern State's sixth consecutive Southland Conference victory in Sunday's 6-1 victory against New Orleans.

NSU (10-5, 6-0 SLC) stepped onto the courts at Jack Fisher Tennis Complex wanting to avenge this past's season loss to UNO (7-6, 1-3), a match the Privateers won 5-2.

The Lady Demons sprinted to the doubles point with a pair of 6-0 wins.

Tandem Emilija Dancetovic and Ela Iwaniuk finished first at No. 3. Polina Mutel and Polina Ivanova quickly followed with their own 6-0 triumph to clinch the doubles point.

"It wasn't easy even though the score was 6-0," Mutel said. "We had to stay focused the whole time. Sometimes 6-0 seems like it may have been an easy match, but we had to play aggressive from the very first point and stick with the process that we usually do." 

NSU capitalized on doubles momentum by taking quick leads on five of six singles courts.

"I felt we set the tone in doubles play by coming out with great energy and execution," said NSU head coach Patric DuBois. "Our goal was to carry this into singles and compete at a high level."

Sweeping the courts, Ivanova finished first taking a straight-set 6-3, 6-2 win over Anja Luethi to lift the NSU score to 2-0.

Following Ivanova was a comeback fight by sophomore Kateryna Avram, who was the only Lady Demon to trail early.

Behind 2-1, she came back for a 6-3, first-set win and revealed her fight to opponent Brittany Johnson once more by overcoming a tiebreak to close the second set 7-5 and increase the NSU score to 3-0.

Judit Castillo prevailed in the No. 5 slot in a competitive 6-4, 6-4 victory against Lea Alguacil to clinch the match after also capturing the match-winning point in Saturday's Southeastern match.

While these Lady Demons posted the win, Mutel, Iwaniuk and Dancetovic each pushed through long, tough matches.

Mutel and Trang Dao played a roller coaster singles contest at No. 1 with the lead changing hands often. Mutel took the first set 7-6 via a 9-7 tiebreak. Still baring ground in the second set, Mutel edged 6-4 to claim a triumph and adjust the NSU score to 5-0.

"The first set was really hard," Mutel said. "She was ahead, and I had to get it together. My opponent is really well-coached and smart. It wasn't easy to play against her. I had to think about what to do and not make mistakes."

"The second set also wasn't easy because I was down, too. I had to catch up, stay aggressive and step up."

Adding the final NSU point, Iwaniuk dominated in a 6-1 first set, but Yurina Asai came back fighting, eventually falling 7-6 in the second set after a 7-2 tiebreak.

Dancetovic battled  until the last ball after she won in a 7-6 first set and 7-4 tiebreak.

However, UNO's Claudette Gilhespie topped her with a 6-2 second set and claimed the win in a 11-9 tiebreaking pro-set for UNO's only point of the day.

NSU's 6-0 start to conference play matches its number of SLC wins all of this past season (6-5). It's the Lady Demons' best start to conference play since 2014 when NSU won its first seven matches.

"We are working hard at every practice, and we are not wasting any time," Mutel said. "We working hard as a team, and still being early in the season, we hope to do things at the same level moving forward."

Castillo improved her team-best singles record to 9-2 (6-0 SLC) while doubles partners Dancetovic and Iwaniuk have won all four of their doubles pairings since teaming up two weeks ago.
 

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Northwestern State 6, New Orleans 1

Jack Fisher Tennis Complex

Natchitoches, La.

Singles competition

1. Polina Mutel (NSU) def. Trang Dao 7-6 (9-7), 6-4

2. Polina Ivanova (NSU) def. Anja Luethi 6-3, 6-2

3. Claudette Gilhespie (UNO) def. Emilija Dancetovic 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 11-9

4. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Yurina Asai 6-1, 7-6 (7-2)

5. Judit Castillo (NSU) def. Lea Alguacil 6-4, 6-4

6. Kateryna Avram (NSU) def. Brittany Johnson 6-3, 7-5

Doubles competition

1. Polina Mutel/Polina Ivanova (NSU) def. Trang Dao/Anja Luethi 6-0

2. Judit Castillo/Kateryna Avram (NSU) vs. Claudette Gilhespie/Yurina Asai 4-2, unfinished

3. Emilija Dancetovic/Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Lea Alguacil/Brittany Johnson 6-0

Match Notes:

New Orleans 7-6, 1-3 SLC

Northwestern State 10-5, 6-0 SLC

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,6,5,1,4,3)

T-2:35 A-131