NATCHITOCHES —Ela Iwaniuk was her usual dominant self, helping the Northwestern State tennis team to a 4-1 victory over in-state rival Louisiana Tech on Thursday at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.

Iwaniuk controlled her match at the No. 4 singles spot, convincingly defeating 6-1, 6-0, over Louisiana Tech's Claudia Oravcova. It is her fifth consecutive victory, and 10th in the last 11.

"I think my process was very good," Iwaniuk said. "I had to do everything well from beginning to the end, and I did not lose concentration. I just keep pressure on my opponent and do what I want to do."

The Lady Demons (11-2) secured the doubles point with a pair of convincing wins at the No. 2 and 3 spots before taking three of the four singles points to earn the victory.

Following the match against Central Arkansas in which the Lady Demons lost their first doubles point in conference play, they bounced back in a big way.

The No. 2 team of Patrycja Polanska and Rhea Verma improved to 9-3 with a 6-3 victory over Tech's Ana Jover and Claudia Oravcova to get NSU started. The No. 3 pairing of Judit Castillo Gargallo and Emilija Dancetovic captured the doubles point for the Lady Demons with a 6-2 triumph over Andrea Perez-Lopez and Leonie Nutz. The duo improved to a team-best 10-2 on the season.

Iwaniuk's convincing singles win put NSU in front 2-0 before freshman Maria Skyba dropped a 6-3, 6-1, match to Tech's Sonia Chen that cut the Lady Demons lead to 2-1 before they would win the last two to win the match.

"I was very happy with Ela's performance," said head coach Patric DuBois. "She moved very well and worked each point until she had an opening to finish the point."

Freshman Antonia Blattner pushed the lead to 3-1 with a straight sets victory against Leonie Nutz (7-6, 6-1) at the No. 6 slot. With her triumph Friday, she improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season.

Castillo Gargallo capped off the match with a 7-5, 6-3, win over Andrea Perez-Lopez. Her win was the 10th of the season, which is tied with Iwaniuk for the team lead.

"I felt we started off playing very solid in doubles in all three matches and at the beginning of singles today," DuBois said. "We got a little sloppy with process and shot selections as most of the singles matches went forward."

Both Verma's and Polanska's matches were in the third set when Castillo Gargallo provided the clinching point.

It is the second consecutive loss to a Southland Conference team for the Lady Techsters (4-11).

NSU is back in action Friday when it plays a double header, beginning with a Southland Conference matchup against Lamar at 11 a.m. before playing Prairie View A&M. The Lady Demons wrap up the weekend Sunday at SMU.
 

Northwestern State 4, Louisiana Tech 1 
Women's Tennis at Natchitoches, LA – Jack Fisher Tennis Complex 
Singles 
1. Sonia Chen (TECH) def. Maria Skyba 6-3, 6-1
2. Rhea Verma (NSU) vs. Ana Jover 3-6, 6-3, 3-2 (UF) 
3. Patrycja Polanska (NSU) vs. Ilana Tetruashvili 6-3, 4-6, 3-1 (UF) 
4. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Claudia Oravcova 6-1, 6-0 
5. Judit Castillo Gargallo (NSU) def. Andrea Perez-Lopez 7-5, 6-3 
6. Antonia Blattner (NSU) def. Leonie Nutz 7-5, 6-1
 

Doubles 
1. Polina Mutel/Maria Skyba (NSU) vs. Sonia Chen/Ilana Tetruashvili 5-4 (UF)
2. Rhea Verma/Patrycja Polanska (NSU) def. Ana Jover/Claudia Oravcova 6-3
3. Judit Castillo Gargallo/Emilija Dancetovic (NSU) def. Andrea Perez-Lopez/Leonie Nutz 6-2
 

Match Notes: 
Northwestern State 11-2 
Louisiana Tech: 4-11 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (4,1,6,5)
T-2:45 A-70