NATCHITOCHES – Fitting of a match featuring the two winningest programs in Louisiana this season, Thursday's contest between Northwestern State and Louisiana Tech came down to the final point.
Viktorie Wojcikova, who squeezed out a doubles tiebreaker to start the match, gutted out a three-set singles win to send NSU to a 4-3 victory against a Louisiana Tech squad that's won 17 matches this season.
Wojcikova broke away from a 4-4 third-set tie to outlast Tech's Ilana Tetruashvili (5-7, 7-5, 6-4) and hand the Lady Demons (14-4) a regular-season finale win against the Lady Techsters (17-5).
NSU finished the regular season nine straight wins, which included a 6-0 Southland Conference slate that garnered the program's first regular season title since 2014.
"I just believed I could win," said an exhausted Wojcikova, who was screened in the third set for a heat-related illness. "(Tetruashvili) gave me nothing for free, and she had a couple of match points in that second set, so either of us could have won.
"I knew that I trailed most of that second set, but I was just trying to win every ball and focus on myself."
The rest of the matches were completed by the time Wojcikova finished her second-set rally by winning the final three games. The teams looked on for the entire third set as Wojcikova and Tetruashvili battled in a three-hour singles match.
"The way that Vikki came through today in doubles and singles was phenomenal," said NSU coach
Jonas Brobeck. "In a match like this, there shouldn't be a loser, but there's no tie in tennis and I'm happy we're on the good side.
"But Vikki was brave enough. She was playing to win in tough moments, and that's the definition of competing and being brave. And we saw that on other courts, too.
Wojcikova and her partner Rozalie Dohnalova delivered NSU the doubles point via a 7-5 tiebreaker against Tiffani Nash/Najah Dawson.
The NSU tandem fought off a Tech rally by winning the final two points of the tiebreaker to secure the doubles point. The Lady Demons led 5-3 at No. 2 doubles before Tech won three straight games to help force the tiebreaker.
"We were just trying to play simple and aggressive, and it worked," Wojcikova said.
NSU's No. 3 pair of
Ayu Ishibashi and
Patrycja Polanska drew first blood with a 6-2 win before Tech's No. 1 pairing of Olga Bienzobas and Leonie Schuknecht topped
Tjasa Klevisar and
Mariella Minetti 6-2.
The Lady Demons and Lady Techsters went back and forth in singles, trading points as NSU clutched to a 3-2 lead.
Needing both points to win the match, Tech picked up the tying point on No. 2 as Bienzobas fought off a first-set defeat to beat Klevisar 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Klevisar stormed to a first-set win at rapid pace before Bienzobas steadied, winning five of the seven games in the second set and the last two games in the third set.
Tech started singles play with a win at No. 1 in which Schuknecht fended off a second-set challenge from Dohnalova in a 6-3, 6-4 win.
A wave of points rolled in within minutes of each other as NSU earned points on No. 3 and No. 4 and Tech grabbed a point on No. 6.
After Minetti won the first set 6-2 on No. 3, Dawson led the majority of the second set before Minetti won the last three games to win 7-5.
Ishibashi rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win against Nash on No. 4.
Tech sandwiched a point between NSU's scoring with a victory on No. 6 as Alexia Romera bested
Gig Kanaphuet 6-4, 6-4.
Now NSU has an eight-day window before the SLC Tournament starts April 22 in New Orleans.
"We're going to celebrate this win because we executed with a margin of error that was so small, but it's even more important to get this type of experience heading into the SLC Tournament," Brobeck said. "You don't want to get to the tournament and be tied 3-3 and have not had much experience in that situation, and today was a great way to prepare for that.
"I'm super proud of these girls and how we competed and problem solved. It's great to pull one out against a very good Louisiana Tech team, a gritty and hard-working bunch."
