NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State tennis team jumped to a big lead and coasted to a 6-1 victory Saturday afternoon at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.
A nice crowd came to see NSU (10-8, 2-3 SLC) and the home team did not disappoint, winning the first six points in the win.
The victory is the sixth home triumph in the 2023 season.
"After a really tough loss against McNeese, you really want to see how your girls respond and we responded great," head coach Jonas Brobeck said. "We learned from that tough McNeese loss and we did a lot of good things today."
Mariella Minetti continued her strong play with a win in straight set against Noemie Piquet, 6-1, 6-1. Minetti senior from Tampere, Finland, has come out on top in six of her past seven matches.
Nicholls (9-13, 1-5) dropped its sixth match in a row. This is also the ninth straight victory for the Lady Demons against Nicholls.
NSU started the day off cruising to the doubles point. Dorota Szczygielska and Sofi Garcia had a dominating 6-1 win against Laura Lopez and Sarah Hamley at the No. 3 spot.
That was closely followed by Tjasa Klevisar and Ayu Ishibashi running away with a 6-2 win at No. 1 against Constanza Cruz and Piquet.
Szczygielska and Garcia have proven to be a force in the lineup. The pair is 3-0 on No. 3 since they were first paired together against Lamar.
With the score 1-0 entering singles, Klevisar dominated in the top slot. She came away with her fourth conference win of the season 6-2, 6-0 over Simona Maksimovic to put NSU in front 2-0.
Overall, six Lady Demons won their singles matches in straight sets. Ishibashi was the second singles match to finish and her victory put NSU in front 3-0.
"We are really peaking at the right time as a team," said Brobeck. "The girls are competing well, they are playing important points the right way and the girls are understanding how to follow through on their game plan."
Renske Ubachs clinched the Lady Demons win with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Hamley at No. 6. She is 7-4 in singles on the season.
"It felt great to compete today and my confidence showed it," Ubachs said. "I played a solid game and I think this will help the team and I leading into the conference tournament."
Following Minetti's victory at No. 5 made it 5-0 NSU, Garcia collected a triumph at the No. 4 spot. Her convincing 6-4, 6-2, win against Laura Lopez put the Lady Demons in front 6-0.
Nicholls earned its lone victory in a super tiebreaker at No. 3. Paige Wise won 6-4 in the first set but dropped in the second set 7-5 to Carla Bouygues. Bouygues defeated Wise in the super tiebreaker 10-8.
The Lady Demons return to action Tuesday at 11 a.m. against New Orleans.
Tennis Match Results
Nicholls at Northwestern State
April 8, 2023, Natchitoches, La.
NSU 6, NICH 1
SINGLES:
1.Tjasa Klevisar (NSU) def. Simona Maksimovic (NICH) 6-2, 6-0
2.Ayu Ishibashi (NSU) def. Constanza Cruz (NICH) 6-2, 6-0
3.Carla Bouygues (NICH) def. Paige Wise (NSU) 4-6, 7-5, 10-8
4.Sofi Garcia (NSU) def. Laura Lopez (NICH) 6-4, 6-2
5.Mariella Minetti (NSU) def. Noemie Piquet (NICH) 6-1, 6-1
6.Renske Ubachs (NSU) def. Sarah Hamley (NICH) 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 6, 5, 4, 3
DOUBLES:
1.Tjasa Klevisar/Ayu Ishibashi (NSU) def. Constanza Cruz/Noemie Piquet (NICH) 6-2
2.Paige Wise/Mariella Minetti (NSU) v. Carla Bouygues/Simons Maksimovic (NICH) UNF
3.Dorota Szczygielska/Sofi Garcia (NSU) def. Laura Lopez/Sarah Hamley (NICH) 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1
