HOUSTON — The third set was kind to the Northwestern State tennis team as three won in the deciding set to clinch a 4-3 victory over Houston on Sunday at the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility.

After dropping the first set, Ela Iwaniuk and Patrycja Polanska came back to win the final two sets to win their matches. Judit Castillo Gargallo won the first set and the third set to win her match.

"I'm very proud of the girls the way they came back and competed today after a tough loss Saturday," head coach Patric DuBois said. "Our process was much better today."

NSU (3-3) stopped a two-match losing streak both overall and against Houston, earning its first victory at Houston since 2010.

Houston (2-3) lost for the second time in three contests against Southland opponents, falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Feb. 2 after shutting out McNeese.

The match began with singles and Houston won the first set in four of the six singles, but NSU bounced back in a big way. The Lady Demons found themselves down 2-1 with the rest of the matches heading to a third set.

Polanska was the last one on the singles' courts to try to give the Lady Demons the victory. She dropped the first set 6-2 at No. 4 but rebounded to win a close 6-4 set to force a deciding set. Polanska and Jovana Vukovic alternated the first six points before Polanska clinched the match with three consecutive games to win 6-3 and give NSU the 4-2 lead.

With NSU trailing 2-1, Iwaniuk fell behind 3-1 in the second set after dropping her first set at No. 2. But the senior scored three consecutive games to take the lead in the second set. Overall, she took five of the last six games of the set to emerge with a 6-4 victory. She took that momentum into the third set, grabbing the first four points of the third set en route to a convincing 6-1 win.

Castillo Gargallo won her match at No. 6 to give NSU its first advantage with a three-set victory against Elena Tairyan. The NSU senior cruised in the first set 6-2 before Tairyan responded with a 6-3 second-set victory. They split the first six games before Castillo Gargallo wrestled away the final three games to win the point for the Lady Demons.

Her 45^th career victory ties her with Adna Curukovic (2008-11) for 19^th place on the all-time singles list in program history.

Stephanie Belovukovic gave the Cougars the opening point of the match at No. 5, but NSU's Mariella Minetti emerged victorious at No. 1 in straight sets. Minetti jumped out to a 5-1 advantage in the first set and won 6-3 in the first set but had a much harder time sweeping Mimi Kendall-Woseley.

The Lady Demons freshman began fast in the second with 2-0 and 4-2 leads, but Kendall-Woseley came back both times and led 6-5. However, Minetti won to tie it at 6-6 and then triumphed in the tiebreaker to tie the match at 1.

In doubles, the Lady Demons' duo of Castillo Gargallo and Szczygielska came through with a 6-4 victory against Phonexay Chitdara and Manasi Reddy for lone NSU doubles win. Houston won at Nos. 1 and 2 to clinch the point and make the final 4-3.

The Lady Demons return home next weekend, beginning a four-match homestand across the next two weeks. The homestand begins Friday against Alcorn at 2:00 p.m.
 
Tennis Match Results
Northwestern State vs. Houston
Feb. 9, 2020 at Houston, TX
(Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility)
Northwestern State 4, Houston 3

Singles
1. Mariella Minetti (NSU) def. Mimi Kendall-Woseley (UH) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Azul Pedemonti 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
3. Phonexay Chitdara (UH) def. Dorota Szczygielska 6-4, 6-4
4. Patrycja Polanska (NSU) def. Jovana Vukovic 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
5. Stephanie Belovukovic (UH) def. Olivia Alfredsson 6-3, 6-3
6. Judit Castillo Gargallo (NSU) def. Elena Tairyan 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

Doubles
1. Mimi Kendall-Woseley/Azul Pedemonti (UH) def. Ela Iwaniuk/Emilija Dancetovic (NSU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Elena Tairyan/Jovana Vukovic (UH) def. Patrycja Polanska/Mariella Minetti 6-2
3. Dorota Szczygielska/Judit Castillo Gargallo (NSU) def. Phonexay Chitdara/Manasi Reddy 6-4

Match Notes:
Order of finish:
Doubles (2,3,1)
Singles (5,1,3,2,6)