CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas— The Northwestern State women's tennis team won its opening quarterfinal match in the 2019 Southland Conference Tournament Thursday, with Patrycja Polanska providing the clinching point for the second time this season as the back of the rotation fueled the second-seeded Lady Demons to a 4-1 win over No. 7 New Orleans.

NSU improved to 18-5 heading into a semifinal match Friday at 2 p.m. against No. 3 Central Arkansas (17-7), following the Bears' 4-3 triumph against defending champion McNeese Thursday afternoon in another quarterfinal contest. The Lady Demons won a tight 4-3 decision over UCA in their regular season meeting in Natchitoches, with Polanska providing the clinching point.

Thursday, Polanska won a tough first set 7-5 against Claudette Gilhespie at No. 4, and convincingly won the second set 6-2. The sophomore trailed in the first set 5-2, but caught fire and won five consecutive games. Her strong play continued into the second set.

"I was losing in the first set, so I knew I had to change something," Polanska said. "I had to stop making mistakes and push her and do whatever I could to win the match. I did not know I was going to clinch, but it's good that it ended like that."

The Lady Demons' second team all-conference standouts played up to billing, as Ela Iwaniuk (No. 5) and Judit Castillo Gargallo (No. 6) posted dominant victories.

Iwaniuk rolled over Lea Alguacil 6-2, 6-1. Castillo Gargallo started fast, as she jumped out to a 3-0 advantage against Yurina Asai, and never looked back, coasting to a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

NSU scored doubles victories at Nos. 2 and 3 to earn the day's first point. Iwaniuk and fellow junior Emilija Dancetovic made quick work at No. 3 against Mar Gendra and Brittany Johnson, winning 6-1. Polanska and Rhea Verma jumped out to a 4-1 advantage against Alguacil and Gilhespie before UNO came back to tie it up. Completely unfazed, Polanska and Verma notched the next two games to win the match and clinch the point.

"I felt we did a good job in doubles from the beginning (Thursday)," head coach Patric DuBois said. "We did a lot of good things and this carried over to singles."

Even though their match went unfinished, the No. 1 doubles tandem of Polina Mutel and Maria Skyba trailed 5-2 before rolling to four consecutive game victories to take the lead, and were themselves on the verge of clinching the doubles point.

In singles, Castillo Gargallo and Iwaniuk expanded the Lady Demons' lead. Those triumphs sandwiched Rhea Verma's first conference defeat of the season, as she played up in the rotation at No. 2.

With the advantage at 3-1, both Mutel and Skyba were behind in their third sets at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, when Polanska put the finishing touch on the outcome..

"UNO is very solid and played well," DuBois said. "We had to play well to earn a tough victory."

The Privateers' season ended with a 13-10 record, including a 6-1 regular-season loss to NSU.
 

Northwestern State 4, New Orleans 1
Southland Conference Tournament Quarterfinal
Women's Tennis at Corpus Christi, TX – (Thomas J Henry Tennis Center)
Singles
1. Polina Mutel (NSU) vs. Trang Dao 6-2, 4-6, unfinished
2. Ank Vullings (UNO) def. Rhea Verma 6-1, 6-3
3. Maria Skyba (NSU) vs. Salma Abdelrahim 2-6, 6-4, 1-2, unfinished
4. Patrycja Polanska (NSU) def. Claudette Gilhespie 7-5, 6-2
5. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Lea Alguacil 6-2, 6-1
6. Judit Castillo (NSU) def. Yurina Asai 6-3, 6-0

Doubles
1. Polina Mutel/Maria Skyba (NSU) vs. Trang Dao/Ank Vullings 6-5, unfinished
2. Patrycja Polanska/Rhea Verma (NSU) def. Lea Alguacil/Claudette Gilhespie 6-4
3. Ela Iwaniuk/Emilija Dancetovic (NSU) def. Mar Gendra/Brittany Johnson 6-1

Match Notes:
New Orleans 13-10
Northwestern State 18-5
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,5,2,4)