SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Northwestern State picked an opportune time to put together one of its best performances of the season.
No. 6 NSU (10-8) rolled 4-1 against NJIT in the first round of the SLC Tournament on Friday afternoon.
NSU set the tone for the match early on, taking the doubles point with victories on court Nos. 1 and 3.
Tjasa Klevisar and partner Honoka Umeda allowed only three games on court one before taking the court 6-3.
On No. 3, Paige Wise and Sara Erenda jumped out of the gate fast, going up 5-1. NJIT's team of Pa Menendez Alvarez and Shalom Salvi came back to win three straight games to cut it to 5-4.
But after being out for two months, Wise helped the Lady Demons secure the doubles point with the final game to win the match 6-4 to head into singles in front 1-0.
Maria Farina made quick work of Sandra Dzhambazov, 6-3, 6-2, to take back the Lady Demons advantage, 2-1.
Sofi Garcia added on the Lady Demons score with a win on No. 4, 6-2, 6-2, to push the lead to 3-1.
Umeda clinched the match for Northwestern State in the No. 5 slot. She finished the first set 6-1.
Irene Cocero was able to hold Umeda off in the second set before Umeda was able to come through to top Cocero 7-5.
The other two matches went unfinished.
Klevisar was able to hold off Laura Wipfli to only one game in the first set before falling behind 3-2 in the second.
When the match was called Klevisar was ahead 6-5 on No. 1 and Erenda had tied Sofi Pinedo on No. 3, 3-3.
The Lady Demons face rival McNeese on Saturday with a trip to the tournament championship match on the line. The match is at 9 a.m. with the winner facing the victor of No. 5 UIW and No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Match Results
NJIT v. Northwestern State
April 19, 2024, 2 p.m.
Northwestern State 4, NJIT 0
Singles Results:
1.Tjasa Klevisar (NSU) v. Laura Wipfli (NJIT) 6-1, 6-5 Unfinished
2.Maria Farina (NSU) def. Sandra Dzhambazov (NJIT) 6-3, 6-2
3.Sara Erenda (NSU) v. Sofi Pinedo (NJIT) 4-6, 4-3 Unfinished
4.Sofi Garcia (NSU) def. Shalom Salvi (NJIT) 6-2, 6-2
5.Honoka Umeda (NSU) def. Irene Cocero (NJIT) 6-1, 7-5
6.Pa Menendez Alvarez (NJIT) v. Paige Wise (NSU) Win by Default
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5
Doubles Results:
1.Tjasa Klevisar (NSU) def. Laura Wipfli/Irene Cocero (NJIT) 6-3
2.Sandra Dzhambazov/Sofi Pinedo (NJIT) v. Sofi Garcia/Maria Farina (NSU) 5-3 Unfinished
3.Paige Wise/Sara Erenda (NSU) def. Pa Menendez Alvarez/Shalom Salvi (NJIT) 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3
