NATCHITOCHES – Before Friday's first day of the Lady Demon Invitational, Northwestern State's Nico Tagami and Zala Vnuk had not played a set of college tennis.
 
The two newcomers did not show any nerves in their collegiate debuts as both went undefeated in singles matches in the Orange Draw of the tournament at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.
 
For even better measure, the two paired together in doubles play and delivered a stirring comeback victory.
 
"Like I said last time, they really brought in a lot of energy," head coach Marcos Morelli said. "Their attitude and their maturity, for their young age, is remarkable. I'm so proud of them."
 
Tagami did not drop a set, sweeping Sam Houston's Veronika Muzichenko, 6-0, 6-3, in the opening round before outlasting Tyler Junior College's Idom Cho, 7-5, 7-5 in the draw semifinals.
 
After dropping the opening set 6-0 to Stephen F. Austin's Abbey Nikolic, Vnuk forced a super-tiebreaker with a 7-5 win in the second set and emerged 10-6 in the tiebreaker.
 
Vnuk built on that momentum in the semifinals, cruising past Lamar's Varvara Popadina in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
 
The two will not face each other Saturday. Instead, Tagami will square off with Sam Houston's Viktorie Zidelova while Vnuk battles Sam Houston's Maria Gajete.
 
In their doubles match, Vnuk and Tagami found themselves down 3-0 to Sam Houston's Ivona Savekova and Isabella Garza before roaring back for a 6-4 victory.
 
"I like their composure and the way they stick to their process," Morelli said. "They had fun. I think they enjoyed each other and it was fun to watch them just enjoying themselves."
 
On the other end of the experience spectrum, graduate student Zoi Spyrou also reached the finals of her draw, taking down Sam Houston's Isabella Garza, 6-3, 6-1, in Spyrou's lone match of the day.
 
She will face Tyler's Katina Estafina Zepeda Barrios in the White Draw finals.
 
"We are just happy to see (Spyrou) back on the court after the tough season she had last spring," Morelli said. "Hopefully, she can continue to get more and more matches in."
 
Sophomore Athina Grigoriadou endured a pair of three-set matches in the Purple Draw, rallying past Tyler's Dina Lipovski in her first match, 3-6, 6-2, 10-4, before falling to Lamar's Martina Alcaino, 6-3, 3-6, 8-10 in the draw semifinals.
 
Grigoriadou's fellow sophomore, Martina Acebedo Bonocore, also split a pair of matches, falling to Lamar's Jevrosima Mitic, 6-3, 6-3, in the Yellow Draw opener before rebounding to sweep Tyler's Karina Zaharieva, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in her second match.
 
Grigoriadou will face Lamar's Lira Zaginayko in her singles match Saturday while Acebedo Bonocore faces SFA's Avery Kinsey in the consolation finals.
 
The Grigoriadou/Acebedo Bonocore duo will play their first doubles match in the Purple Draw at 9 a.m. against Sam Houston's Zidelova and Sara Khamitova.
 
The tournament concludes Saturday with the doubles semifinals in the two draws beginning at 9 a.m. The doubles finals, consolation finals and third-place matches will follow.
 
The singles' championships, third-place matches and consolation finals will conclude the day.