DALLAS – In its spring debut, Northwestern State's Lady Demon tennis team finished strong at the SMU Metroplex Mania Invitational, winning four of the six combined matches Sunday to wrap up the three-day tournament.

Among those four victories on the final day of competition, three came in singles by Ela Iwaniuk, Antonia Blattner and Patrycja Polanska.

"By and large, we had a good weekend and accomplished what we wanted," head coach Patric DuBois said. "We were able to get match play early before our first dual match (next Saturday at Tulane). The matches were high level and all four ladies competed well."

Iwaniuk was the star for NSU, winning two of her three singles matches at the event. Both of her wins came in three sets, against BYU's Taylah Beckman and Northern Arizona's Emilie Haakansson. In both matches, she won the first set and falling in the second set before rebounding to win the decisive third set 6-3. Her only loss was to SMU's Katherine Jakeway.

In their first tournament with the Lady Demons, Polanska and redshirt freshman Rhea Verma held their own against tough competition. Verma defeated BYU's Polina Malykh in her first match of the tournament before falling in her final two matches, but both in three sets. On Saturday, she won her first set against SMU's Anzhelika Shapovalova before dropping the final two, including a close third set 6-4.

Like Verma, Polanska performed well in her first tournament. She dominated BYU's Samantha Smith in the first set, but lost close decisions in sets two and three 7-5, 7-5. After a loss to SMU's Ana Perez-Lopez in straight sets on Saturday, she rebounded with her first match win in her career with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Northern Arizona's Madi Moore.

"Playing good competition never hurts," DuBois said. "We have a tough opening match against Tulane on Saturday and I am happy half our team has some spring match play under their belt."

Northwestern State begins dual match play Saturday at Tulane. The Lady Demons return to Natchitoches for their home opener Feb. 2 against UL Lafayette at the Jack Fisher Lady Demon Complex.
 

Friday

Singles
Flight 2: Rhea Verma (NSU) d. Polina Malykh (BYU) 7-5, 6-2
Flight 3: Samantha Smith (BYU) d. Patrycja Polanska (NSU) 1-6, 7-5, 7-5
Flight 4: Madeline Almeida (BYU) d. Antonia Blattner (NSU) 6-3, 6-1
Flight 5: Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) d. Taylah Beckman (BYU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3

Doubles
Flight 2: Anzhelika Shapovalova/Liza Buss (SMU) d. Rhea Verma/Patrycja Polanska (NSU) 6-2
Flight 3: Tiffany Hollebeck/Karina Traxler (SMU) d. Ela Iwaniuk and Antonia Blattner (NSU) 6-2

Saturday

Singles
Flight 2: Anzhelika Shapovalova (SMU) d. Rhea Verma (NSU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Flight 3: Ana Perez-Lopez (SMU) d. Patrycja Polanska (NSU) 6-2, 6-2
Flight 4: Karina Traxler (SMU) d. Antonia Blattner (NSU) 6-3,6-0
Flight 5: Katherine Jakeway (SMU) d. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) 7-5,6-3

Doubles
Flight 2: Rhea Verma/Patrycja Polanska (NSU) d. Samantha Smith/Taylah Beckman (BYU) 7-5
Flight 3: Polina Malykh/Madeline Almeida (BYU) d. Antonia Blattner/Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) 7-6

Sunday

Singles
Flight 2: Ellie Millard (NAU) d. Rhea Verma (NSU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
Flight 3: Patrycja Polanska (NSU) d. Madi Moore (NAU) 6-3, 7-5
Flight 4: Antonia Blattner (NSU) d. Avery Aude (SMU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Flight 5: Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) d. Emilie Haakansson (NAU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

Doubles
Flight 2: Avery Aude/Tiffany Hollebeck (SMU) d. Rhea Verma/Patrycja Polanska 6-2
Flight 4: Antonia Blattner/Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) d. Nicole Petchey/Katherine Jakeway (SMU) 6-2