Box Score
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana sophomore
Audrey Chelini rallied for her fourth consecutive singles victory, but Northwestern State held on to a share of first place in the Southland Conference with a hard-fought 6-1 victory over the Lady Lions in women's tennis action Friday afternoon at Oak Knoll Country Club.
The Lady Lions fell to 7-10 overall and 3-5 in Southland Conference play with the loss. Northwestern State (12-1, 8-0 Southland) extended its winning streak to 11 matches and remained undefeated in league action.
After being swept in the doubles play, Southeastern was much better in singles play. In addition to Chelini's win, each of the singles matches at the top four positions of the draw were tightly contested.
Southeastern head coach
Jason Hayes was proud of his team's effort against the talented Lady Demons.
“I'm very proud of how well we competed and I think this shows that we can play with anybody in the Southland,” Hayes commented. “Northwestern State is one of the premier teams in the Southland Conference and they're where we want to get back to in the coming years. We have four freshmen and four sophomores on our roster and with that young talent we feel we have a bright future.”
Northwestern State took the lead in doubles play at No. 3, where Kathrin Lange and Bianca Schulz defeated sophomore
Mia Hagiu and freshman
Isabel Brito – who were teaming for the first time – 8-1. The Lady Demons closed out the doubles point at No. 1, as Olga Bazhanova and Adna Curukovic moved past Chelini and freshman
Camille Pilon, 8-4.
The top two matches of the singles draw were extended to three sets. At No. 1, Chelini bounced back from a tough first set to defeat Bazhanova, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6), improving to 11-6 overall and 6-2 in Southland Conference play.
At No. 2, Curukovic battled past Lady Lion sophomore
Morgane Dadot, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8. The loss dropped Dadot's team-best singles record to 13-3.
Though Northwestern State won in straight sets at No. 3 and No. 4, both matches were highly competitive. At the third position, Martina Rubesova battled past Pilon, 6-4, 6-4. Southeastern freshmen
Nina Schmied lost a first set lead and fell to Lange, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 at No. 4. Straight set wins at the bottom two spots closed out the scoring for Northwestern State.
The Lady Lions close out their home schedule on Saturday, hosting Southland foe Central Arkansas at 11 a.m. at the Oak Knoll Country Club
