NATCHITOCHES – By the slightest of margins, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi overcame Northwestern State 4-3 to claim a 2018 Southland Conference women's tennis regular season co-championship Saturday at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.

The Islanders (15-6 overall, 10-1 in the Southland) captured the only win against the Lady Demons (14-8, 9-3) on their home courts this season. The outcome tied AMCC with McNeese for the conference regular-season title.

Ranked No. 11 in the Universal Tennis Rankings as a runner-up in France UI8 singles, AMCC's Luna Dormet closed the four-hour match, escaping a 4-4 tie in the third set to edge NSU's Emilija Dancetovic on the third court, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

NSU won the doubles point and jumped to a 2-0 advantage quickly in singles, but as NSU-AMCC matches always seem to unfold, the contest grinded into mid-afternoon with highly-competitive, high-caliber tennis.

"In singles, we just couldn't pull out the third match we needed," DuBois said. "This was a great college tennis match today. To play four hours, come down to the last match and finish it 6-4 showed how both teams fought so hard and wanted this one.

"I was very proud of our effort. Congratulations to Corpus Christi on a very well-played and well-coached match to earn a share of the SLC championship."

Headed to the Southland Tournament beginning Friday in Beaumont, Texas, the Lady Demons anticipate a 2 p.m. quarterfinal match against Abilene Christian (13-8, 7-4, a 4-3 winner over NSU two weeks ago at ACU). Seedings and pairings are expected to be officially announced Sunday by the conference office.

Quickly posting the doubles point Saturday, NSU's No. 1 tandem of Polina Mutel and Polina Ivanova took control in a 6-3 decision and set the stage for Dancetovic and Ela Iwaniuk to clinch 6-3 at No. 3.

"We played our doubles at a high level and executed exactly as we planned," DuBois said.

The Lady Demons began singles competition with first-set victories on four of the six courts, but Corpus Christi responded in championship style, beginning its rally at the bottom of the lineup.

Iwaniuk allowed only two games (6-1, 6-1) to Louise Trigona in a straight-set domination of the No. 4 match to lift the NSU score to 2-0.

"I was very happy with the game plan Ela had today from beginning to end in a solid victory," DuBois said.

Carolina Bulatovic, who holds a No. 10 Universal Tennis Ranking and reached up to No. 201 in the German ranks, captured the first Islander point against Kateryna Avram with a straight-set 7-6 (3), 6-2 win in the No. 6 position.

The overall score was tied 2-2 after AMCC's Marina Vicens Miquel defeated NSU singles leader Judit Castillo 6-0, 7-5 in the fifth position

The visitors took a 3-2 advantage when Jelena Dzinic, another 2017 All-Southland first team performer, posted the third straight-set triumph for Corpus Christi in a very hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 decision over Ivanova on the second court.

Though the match was nearly three hours deep, NSU's two remaining players found plenty of fire with the outcome in doubt.

Despite fighting leg cramps, Mutel tied the overall score by pushing through for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory in the No. 1 match over Hortense Boscher.

"She has been a warrior all year long, going undefeated at No. 1 doubles with Ivanova and going 10-1 in conference singles at the top position," DuBois said. "Today, she showed exactly why she has those results. She was really cramping and at times could barely move, but she found a way to win one and a half games in that condition to pull out her match.

"Her willingness to stay out there and find a way to victory every time she plays is outstanding."

With the match knotted 3-all, Dormet and Dancetovic staged some epic rallies before the visitors prevailed. After a brief celebration, the teams shook hands and exchanged some hugs of admiration, each realizing a rematch in a week is very possible.

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Corpus Christi 4, Northwestern State 3

Apr 21, 2018 at Natchitoches, La.

Jack Fisher Tennis Complex

Singles competition

1. Polina Mutel (NSU) def. Hortense Boscher 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

2. Jelena Dzinic (AMCC) def. Polina Ivanova 7-5, 7-5

3. Luna Dormet (AMCC) def. Emilija Dancetovic 5-7, 6-2, 6-4

4. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Louise Trigona 6-1, 6-1

5. Marina Vicens Miquel (AMCC) def. Judit Castillo 6-0, 7-5

6. Carolina Bulatovic (AMCC) def. Kateryna Avram 7-6 (7-3), 6-2

Doubles competition

1. Polina Mutel/Polina Ivanova (NSU) def. Hortense Boscher/Luna Dormet 6-3

2. Judit Castillo/Kateryna Avram (NSU) vs. Louise Trigona/Marina Vicens Miquel 4-3, unfinished

3. Emilija Dancetovic/Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Maria Maldonado/Jelena Dzinic 6-3

Match Notes:

Corpus Christi 15-6, 10-1

Northwestern State 14-8, 8-3

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

T-4:00 A-101