Box Score

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Playing its second four-hour match in as many days, the Southeastern Louisiana University women's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to Northwestern State in Southland Conference women's tennis action in its regular season finale Thursday afternoon at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.
 
A day after a marathon 4-3 win over Nicholls that included four three-set singles contests, SLU (10-9, 3-4 SLC) bounced back from a slow start and threatened the Lady Demons (12-8, 4-3 SLC) before ultimately dropping the hard-fought match.
 
"This was a great college tennis match," Southeastern head coach Jason Hayes said. "Both teams played very well. We had our chances and I'm so proud of the way we fought back from being down, but credit Northwestern State, which is one of the top teams in our conference."
 
The match opened with a tightly-contested doubles point. After NSU took the advantage with a 6-4 win on court 3, the SLU duo of Putri Insani and Flory Bierma (12-5, 5-2 SLC) evened up doubles play with a 7-5 victory over Lady Demons Tjasa Klevisar and Ayu Ishibashi on No. 1.
 
The doubles point came down to court 2, where Northwestern State took a 7-5 victory to claim a 1-0 lead.
 
"We bounced back from a tough day in doubles yesterday and played very well today," Hayes commented. "I was really pleased with the energy we came out with."
 
NSU earned straight-set victories on courts 3 and 4 in singles play to take a 3-0 advantage, but Southeastern would battle its way back into the match. First on No. 1, Insani (13-4, 4-3 SLC) swept past Klevisar, 6-3, 6-4. Bierma (8-9, 2-5 SLC) outlasted Mariella Minetti, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4) on court 5 to pull the Lions within, 3-2.
 
The final two singles matches were decided in three sets. Lion Gabrielle Dekkers (9-7, 2-5 SLC) overcame a 5-2 second-set deficit to force a third set before ultimately falling, 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 on No. 2 to Ishibashi.
 
Northwestern State secured the final margin on No. 6, where SLU's Alba Perez (7-10, 1-6 SLC) dropped a 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-1 decision to Lady Demon Renske Ubachs.
 
Southeastern will next compete in the Southland Conference Championships, scheduled for April 20-23 in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Northwestern State 5, Southeastern 2
 
Singles:
No. 1 Putri Insani (SLU) def. Tjasa Klevisar (NSU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 Ayu Ishibashi (NSU) def. Gabrielle Dekkers (SLU) 6-0, 5-7, 6-3
No. 3 Paige Wise (NSU) def. Carla Del Barrio (SLU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Sofi Garcia (NSU) def. Kate Oborina (SLU) 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 Flory Bierma (SLU) def. Mariella Minetti (NSU) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4)
No. 6 Renske Ubachs (NSU) def. Alba Perez (SLU) 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-1
 
Doubles:
No. 1 Insani/Bierma (SLU) def. Klevisar/Ishibashi (NSU) 7-5
No. 2 Paige Wise/Mariella Minetti (NSU) def. Dekkers/Del Barrio (SLU) 7-5
No. 3 Garcia/Dorota Szczgielska (NSU) def. Oborina/Perez (SLU) 6-4
 
40 LOVE CLUB
All membership fees and donations to both the 40 Love Club and S Club (tennis) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern tennis program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
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