NATCHITOCHES – Patrycja Polanska held out her hand, revealing a scar on her wrist about three inches in length.

Polanska's wrist injury and subsequent surgery kept her out of competitive tennis for 11 months, and she was afraid her tennis career may be over.

But the fifth-year senior has not only returned to the court, she's winning.

Polanska is 2-0 in singles matches and 1-0 in doubles since returning Feb. 5.

"I was very excited, and even though my legs were shaking a lot, it's a good shaking," Polanska said of her 6-2, 6-0 win against Loyola-New Orleans in the No. 5 slot. "It was good to experience that again, to be on the court. It's allowed me to be myself again, and it was amazing."

Polanska and the Lady Demons (4-2) are home for the third straight weekend when they host UTSA on Friday at 1 p.m. and Southern Miss on Sunday at 11 a.m.

The Polish native said her confidence has significantly increased in the two weeks since her return.

"It's so great for my return to have happened at home, and I am playing with more confidence now that I know I can play and do well," Polanska said. "Being focused on every ball helped me.

"I knew something might not work right with my forehand or my other shots because it had been so long since I've played a college match. But I just knew I could do this, and if I stayed focused on the ball, and it'll all be good."

This past weekend, Polanska gutted out two tiebreaker sets to top Texas State's Renata Gonzalez (7-6, 7-6) with a pair of 10-5 tiebreak wins in the No. 6 position.

She followed that with a 6-2 doubles win with freshman Ayu Ishibashi to help capture the doubles point against Stephen F. Austin in a 5-2 victory.

Playing tennis again has allowed Polanska to "be herself," and that's an energetic, upbeat leader on a team in which all seven other players are freshmen and sophomores.

"Having her back and playing means a lot," said NSU coach Jonas Brobeck. "She's our fifth-year senior, our team captain.

"She's such a phenomenal competitor – it's in her DNA to compete and fight. She loves tennis. Having somebody like that in your lineup, her energy and passion are so contagious that it flows to the rest of your team."

Polanska is bringing more than just her energy – she's bringing a combined 20-12 singles record in her first two years as a mainstay in the No. 3 and No. 4 positions.

Her wrist became a problem heading into her junior season in 2021, and she struggled to a 1-5 mark before ending her season in March and having surgery in May.

Polanska might have not been able to do much with a tennis racket in her hand since this past March, but she did everything else she could to make her return to tennis possible in her final season.

"I was constantly working off the court," Polanska said. "I may not have been able to play, but I was able to run or do leg and lower body work.

"I was thinking about tennis, thinking about coming back, and I was hoping it would be good. I kept telling myself that I am still a good tennis player and that I can play. Doing the holistic thing has worked."

Freshmen teammates Ishibashi and Tjasa Klevisar also both had strong weeks, each going 2-0 in singles and 1-0 in doubles.

Klevisar had strong finishes to each of her singles matches, winning 7-6 (9), 6-0 against Texas State and 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 against SFA in the No. 2 position.

Ishibashi won in straight sets in each match with the closest set being 6-3.

Klevisar is a perfect 4-0 in singles this season with Ishibashi improving to 3-1. Viktorie Wojcikova (4-2) and Mariella Minetti (3-1) also have at least three singles this season through six matches.

"We had a great weekend this past weekend against two good teams, and we'll see two really good teams this weekend," Brobeck said. "It'll be two dogfights this weekend.

"Ayu has been rock solid, and she's very good at knowing what she needs to do. She's very coachable, goes out and executes, and lets her talent shine. Tjasa has faced some really good opponents at No. 2, and she's gotten stronger the longer the matches went. I loved the way she's finished matches, and as she starts to understand her identity and what she needs to do, she becomes more composed, has better shot selection and makes smarter choices."

NSU has three straight against UTSA and Southern Miss, including a 4-0 decision against the Roadrunners and a 4-2 victory against the Golden Eagles in the last meetings in 2020.