NEW ORLEANS— Highlighted by dominating play from Ela Iwaniuk and Patrycja Polanska, the Northwestern State Lady Demons tennis team received singles wins from the top five singles slots, in a 6-1 Southland Conference victory over New Orleans Sunday at the University Tennis Center.
It was the second match of a 2-0 road trip for the Lady Demons (9-2 overall, 3-0 Southland Conference), who defeated Nicholls 5-2 on Friday.
"We played a very solid match to beat a very good UNO team," head coach Patric DuBois said. "We had a good start to win a tough doubles point and we focused on staying physical throughout the singles matches."
After losing in their first two conference matches in singles, reigning SLC Player of the Year Polina Mutel and Maria Skyba prevailed in the top two singles positions. Mutel won her No. 1 match in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, against Ank Vullings. Skyba dropped her first set 6-4 against Trang Dao, but rebounded to win the final two 6-2, 6-2, providing the point to clinch the overall match outcome for the Lady Demons.
"The girls did a great job of staying on task and sticking with their plans," DuBois said.
Iwaniuk, a junior, continued her strong play, rolling 6-2, 6-2 over Lea Alguacil at No. 5. It was her seventh win in her last eight following a season-opening defeat at Tulane.
Polanska completed an unbeaten weekend with her 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 4 against Mar Gendra.
Redshirt freshman Rhea Verma improved to 3-0 in conference play, as she took care of Salma Abdelrahim 7-5, 6-4 at No. 3.
The day began with the Lady Demons capturing their third consecutive doubles point and 10th of 11 matches this spring, as they won two of the three matches to claim the point.
The No. 3 duo, juniors Judit Castillo Gargallo and Emilija Dancetovic, improved to 3-0 in conference play by dominating 6-2 against the pairing of Alguacil and Yurina Asai.
The deciding match to bring home the doubles point was at No. 1 when Mutel and Skyba defeated Dao and Vullings 6-3 to give the Lady Demons the 1-0 lead. UNO had only lost two doubles points the entire season.
The Privateers (7-4, 1-3) have lost three in a row and four of five after starting the season 6-0.
NSU returns to Natchitoches Saturday at 11 a.m. as it welcomes Central Arkansas to the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex in a match featuring two of the league's three undefeated teams.
Northwestern State 6, New Orleans 1
Women's Tennis at New Orleans, LA – University Tennis Center
Singles
1. Polina Mutel (NSU) def. Ank Vullings 7-5, 6-4
2. Maria Skyba (NSU) def. Trang Dao 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Rhea Verma (NSU) def. Salma Abdelrahim 7-5, 6-4
4. Patrycja Polanska (NSU) def. Mar Gendra 6-2, 6-3
5. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Lea Alguacil 6-2, 6-2
6. Brittany Johnson (UNO) def. Judit Castillo Gargallo 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
Doubles
1. Maria Skyba/Polina Mutel (NSU) def. Trang Dao/Ank Vullings 6-3
2. Salma Abdelrahim/Brittany Johnson (UNO) def. Rhea Verma/Patrycja Polanska 6-1
3. Judit Castillo Gargallo/Emilija Dancetovic (NSU) def. Lea Alguacil/Yurina Asai 6-2
Match Notes:
Northwestern State 9-2, 3-0 Southland
New Orleans: 7-4, 1-3 Southland
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,5,2,1,3,6)
