Northwestern State 4, Southeastern Louisiana 3 - Results

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The sixth-seeded Southeastern Louisiana women's tennis team lost a narrow 4-3 decision to No. 3 seed Northwestern State in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament Friday afternoon at the Schlief Tennis Complex.
 
The match between the Lions (14-9) and the Lady Demons (12-10) was a tightly-contested affair that featured a trio of three-set singles matches. After Southeastern took the doubles point, Northwestern State took four of six singles contests.
 
While Southeastern sees its winning season end, NSU moves on to face Central Arkansas in Saturday's semifinals at 2 p.m. The seventh-seeded Bears upset tournament host and No. 2 seed Stephen F. Austin, 4-1, on Friday.
 
"We lost a tough one today," Southeastern head coach Jason Hayes said. "But I'm proud of the way our team fought all season. We give a lot of credit to a very good Northwestern State team."
 
Both of Southeastern's All-Southland Conference doubles teams picked up victories to give SLU an early lead. On No. 1, the SLU first team All-Southland duo of senior Renee Villarreal and Dalina Dahlmans (17-2) avenged its only league loss of the regular season with a 6-4 victory over Natalya Krutova and Polina Ivanova.
 
The honorable mention All-Southland Lion pair of junior Margaux Kaltenbacher and sophomore Dany Raygadas (13-7) handled Barbora Kollarova and Alzbeta Veverkova, 6-2, on court 3. The match was the final outing for Kaltenbacher at SLU, as she is graduating a year early.
 
Northwestern State came roaring back in singles play with straight-set victories on courts 2, 3 and 4 to take a 3-1 lead. The three remaining matches would be settled in three sets.
 
Villarreal, the 2016 Southland Conference Player of the Year and the only four-time first team All-Southland performer in program history, kept SLU alive on the No. 1 court. The Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico native improved to 18-3 in singles play this season, rallying past Krutova, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Villarreal ended her remarkable collegiate career with a 73-9 career singles record – good for fourth on the school's career singles victories list.
 
SLU sophomore Lucia Bustamante (11-11) evened the match on the No. 5 court, outlasting Kollarova, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, to tie the score at 3-3.
 
The match came down to the No. 6 singles court. Southeastern sophomore Madina Vorotnikova (12-7) took the opening set, but Veverkova rallied for a 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1 victory to allow the Lady Demons to advance.