CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas— A remarkable 2019 season came to a premature end Friday for the Northwestern State women's tennis team as the second-seeded Lady Demons fell 4-0 to No. 3 Central Arkansas in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament.

It was the first conference shutout suffered by NSU in four years, since a 4-0 defeat against Nicholls in 2015.

Northwestern State ends the spring at 18-6. The 18 victories ties for the third most wins in school history.

Central Arkansas (19-7) will face No. 4 Sam Houston State in the finals Saturday afternoon. The Bearkats defeated top-seeded top-seeded Abilene Christian 4-3.

UCA, which fell 4-3 March 16 in the regular-season meeting in Natchitoches, took control quickly Friday afternoon in doubles action and fought off some second-set rallies in singles to end NSU's season.

"We flat-out got beat by the better team today," head coach Patric DuBois said. "UCA played very disciplined and competed very well. In no-ad tennis, every point is so important and UCA played very well, especially on the big points on each court."

UCA dominated doubles play to begin the contest, winning at No. 1 and 3 in decisive fashion. Marli Van Heerden and Chunxi Xin defeated Polina Mutel and Maria Skyba 6-1 at No. 1, which was followed by Fuka Nonoyama and Yada Vasupongchai dispatching Ela Iwaniuk and Emilija Dancetovic 6-2 at No. 3 to clinch the first point.

The Bears had won the doubles point in the previous meeting as well, but the Lady Demons came back to earn four singles victories to claim the match.

This time, NSU wasn't so fortunate.

UCA kept the pressure on in singles, as the Bears claimed the first set in five of the six matches and never looked back.

Xin, the Southland's Freshman of the Year, gave the Bears a 2-0 advantage with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Mutel at No. 1. It was the final collegiate match for Mutel, who has had a decorated career at NSU, highlighted by 2018 Southland Player of the Year honors before an ankle injury hampered her this season.

"I cannot say enough what Polina has meant to our program, university and community," DuBois said. "She has always gone above and beyond and continually made those around her better."

Mutel is the team's lone senior.

Rhea Verma was in a tight battle against Fuka Nonoyama at No. 2, but fell 6-3, 6-4, to give the Bears the 3-0 lead and put them on the doorstep of the finals.

The clinching point came at No. 4 when Vasupongchai defeated Patrycja Polanska 6-4, 6-2, and the Bears clinched their second tournament championship appearance in three years.

Despite not earning credit for a victory, Judit Castillo Gargallo was rolling against Rada Manataweewat at No. 6. She won a tight first set 7-5 and then was on the verge of defeating Manataweewat for the second time on the year, leading 5-2 when Vasupongchai clinched the match.

Iwaniuk's No. 5 match was also incomplete. She was on the verge of splitting sets, up 5-4 in the second, when UCA closed out the match.

Her 17-4 singles record ties her with Kathrin Lange (2010), Tory Plunkett (1985) and Natalya Krutova (2015) for the 12th highest single-season winning percentage in school history.

Central Arkansas 4, Northwestern State 0
Southland Conference Tournament Semifinal
Women's Tennis at Corpus Christi, TX – (Thomas J Henry Tennis Center)
Singles
1. Chunxi Xin (UCA) def. Polina Mutel 6-2, 6-3
2. Fuka Nonoyama (UCA) def. Rhea Verma 6-3, 6-4
3. Maria Skyba (NSU) vs. Marli Van Heerden 3-6, 5-6, unfinished
4. Yada Vasupongchai (UCA) def. Patrycja Polanska 6-4, 6-2
5. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) vs. QiLi Ma 2-6, 5-4, unfinished
6. Judit Castillo (NSU) vs. Rada Manataweewat 7-5, 5-2, unfinished
 

Doubles
1. Marli Van Heerden/Chunxi Xin (UCA) def. Polina Mutel/Maria Skyba 6-1
2. Patrycja Polanska/Rhea Verma (NSU) vs. QiLi Ma/Rada Manataweewat 4-4, unfinished
3. Fuka Nonoyama/Yada Vasupongchai (UCA) def. Emilija Dancetovic/Ela Iwaniuk 6-2
 

Match Notes:
Central Arkansas 19-7
Northwestern State 18-6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,2,4)
T-2:20