NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State tennis coach Jonas Brobeck said his Lady Demons have executed specific elements of their plan on various days, but in a 7-0 win against Alcorn State on Sunday, NSU put together its most complete effort yet.
The Lady Demons (7-4) swept the doubles point before winning five of their six singles matches in straight sets.
“It’s nice to get a 7-0 win when you get contributions from all your players,” Brobeck said. “Our process was really good today all the way through, and previously, we’ve only gotten bits and pieces of the process.
“We would have a really good doubles effort against Houston or a singles performance against somebody else, but today, we put everything together.”
Freshman Ayu Ishibashi once again played efficiently as she scored the first singles point with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Stefany Grlj in the No. 4 slot.
Three other points came swiftly after as Rozalie Dohnalova (6-3, 6-0 against Andrea Quiroz), Mariela Minetti (6-0, 6-1 against Kimberly Kaome) and Thitirat Kanaphuet (6-1, 6-1 against Aizat Zholdakayeva) won in the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6 singles positions, respectively.
Kanaphuet logged her second singles win of the season, and Brobeck said having players to step and play quality tennis will be important in league play.
“You really need to go eight deep on your roster, and you need people to be able to step up in a long season,” Brobeck said. “Credit to (Kanaphuet) with the way she prepares to play every week, and when she got the chance, she comes in eager and executes her plan.
“When you need to win three games in a row in the (SLC Tournament), you need everybody on your roster to have experience and have the ability to come in and play.”
The Lady Demons finished the 7-0 sweep with points from Patrycja Polanska (7-5, 6-1 over Jaime Edwards) and Tjasa Klevisar (6-3, 4-6, 10-0 tiebreaker against Mikaela Konstantinova).
NSU started the doubles point sweep with 6-0 decision from Viktorie Wojcikova/Dohnalova over Grlj/Edwards.
The Lady Demons finished off the doubles point with a 6-1 result from Polanska/Ishibashi over Quiroz/Tangia Riley-Codrington and a 7-5 score from Minetti/Klevisar against Konstantinova/Kaome.
NSU has swept the last three doubles points and won all nine doubles matches.
The Lady Demons performance Sunday came after a lengthy road match Friday at Lamar, a 5-2 win.
“I thought we handled that really well, and it’s a testament to the shape these girls are in,” Brobeck said. “They came home, dug down mentally and practiced well on Saturday and played well today.”
NSU begins SLC play with its first matches on the road, starting Saturday at Southeastern at 11 a.m.
Photo: Chris Reich/NSU Photographic Services
