HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Northwestern State's whirlwind of a fall tennis season comes to a close this weekend at the Sam Houston Bearkat Invitational. 

The two-day event starts Saturday, featuring NSU, SHSU, Texas-San Antonio and Illinois State. 

The event is NSU's fifth in six weeks, and NSU coach Jonas Brobeck said the Lady Demons bye week this past weekend was much needed after a challenging Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional the week before. 

"We got a little rest, and we're ready to finish the fall season strong," Brobeck said. "One of our main goals this fall was to play a lot of competitive matches with no fall season last year, and we've done that. 

"The girls are playing better and better, and it's important to play year round in tennis. We're starting to find that competitive mindset … and we're discovering that the difference between us and the top teams is very small. That will push us to stick to our process and compete at high levels." 

Freshman Rozalie Dohnalova carried the NSU banner at the ITA Regionals, advancing to the main singles draw round of 32 with a win against ULM's Madalina Grigoriu. 

Dohnalova took a set off No. 8 seed Ariana Arsenault of Auburn before falling 7-5, 3-6, 6-0. 

The tandem of Dohnalova and Viktorie Wojkicova pushed their way to the round of 16 with a doubles win against No. 10 seed Hernandez/Garbino of ULM before losing No. 8 seed Cubitt/Carrington of LSU. 

"(Dohnalova) had a very good first-round singles match as she dictated the game against a good ULM player," Brobeck said. "She played the right way against the Auburn opponent, she just ran out of steam. 

"But it's exciting to see all the girls really emphasizing the process in the fall, and we're seeing results when they do the right things. They are figuring out to play their style of tennis, play to their identity. When they play within themselves, we're seeing great improvement from the beginning of the fall until now." 

Dohnalova is just the latest NSU player to stand out as all seven singles players have had bright moments. 

Freshman Tjasa Klevisar won her first six singles matches of the fall, and a number of Lady Demons have wins against Power Five opponents