SAN ANTONIO – Play simple, yet aggressive. 

That is the key message that Northwestern State tennis players have absorbed throughout the 2024 season. 

Building on that message and the success, the No. 6 Lady Demons (10-8, 3-4) start the SLC tournament on Friday against No. 3 NJIT (15-4). 

NSU will face the Highlanders at 2 p.m. with the hopes of playing in Saturday's semifinals (10 a.m.) and Sunday's championship match (10 a.m.). 

The teams were slated to play in Beaumont, Texas, last month, but rain cancelled the match and it was not re-scheduled. 

Sofi Garcia earned All-SLC honors for her 6-1 conference performance at No. 4 singles. Garcia posted a 13-5 overall record. 

Freshman Honoka Umeda finished out the regular season 11-3 in singles. 

Umeda, a native of Kumamoto, Japan, has proven to be a dominant force on the court for the Lady Demons. 

At the No. 3 singles position, Maria Farina completed her first season as a Lady Demon 10-6 with a 4-3 conference record. 

Sara Erenda competed all over the court in her first year, sporting an unblemished 4-0 singles record at No. 6. 

Tjasa Klevisar finished the regular season off with a 7-8 singles mark, all in the No. 1 position. 

The winner plays Saturday against the winner of No. 2 McNeese and No. 10 Nicholls.