The third-seeded Northwestern State women’s tennis team opened the Southland Conference Tournament with a gritty 4-2 victory over No. 6 McNeese in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round, advancing to the semifinals behind strong doubles play and clutch singles performances.
With the final two singles matches hotly contested and NSU one win away from advancing, the Lady Demons (10-7) received a crucial victory from Honoka Umeda to slam the door on McNeese (19-7).
Umeda posted a comeback in the second set at the No. 3 singles position after winning the first via a tiebreaker, coming through with a clutch 7-6 (7), 7-5 victory. Down 4-2 in the second set, she tallied five of the final six games to come out on top, including the final two to emerge victorious.
The triumph came with the No. 1 singles up for grabs as NSU’s Tjasa Klevisar and Southland Conference Player of the Year Salome Fluri were tied in the third set when Umeda clinched the overall match outcome.
“I’m really proud of the girls — they competed with great energy in both doubles and singles,” said NSU head coach Marcos Morelli.
The Lady Demons set the tone early, capturing the doubles point with commanding wins at No. 3 and No. 1.
Second-team All-SLC doubles standouts Ayu Ishibashi and Sofi Garcia showed exactly why they earned conference honors. The dynamic duo steamrolled first-team All-SLC pair Ana Hollweg and Elena Morales with a flawless 6-0 victory, making a bold statement to open the match.
Moments later, Klevisar and Maria Farina sealed the doubles point with a commanding 6-3 win on court 1, taking down Fluri and the SLC Newcomer of the Year, Stella Rundova. The Lady Demons’ duo fell behind 2-1 early before rattling off four games in a row to seize control. The win gave Northwestern an early surge of momentum and a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
After McNeese recorded a pair of singles wins to one by NSU for a 2-all tie, Spyrou delivered a crucial win at No. 2, outlasting Erica Hagi in a tight second-set tiebreaker to earn a 6-3, 7-6 (6) win pushing the Lady Demons ahead 3-2.
That set the table for Umeda’s critical win to move Northwestern to the tournament semifinals, where it has a rematch with rival Stephen F. Austin, the second seed. The Lady Demons fell to SFA 4-3 five days ago in the regular season finale on the road, which created a three-way tie for the SLC regular season title involving NSU, SFA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“The team is fired up for the rematch. We know it’s going to be a tough battle, but they’re ready to embrace the challenge,” said Morelli, announced Tuesday as the Southland Coach of the Year. “I’m really proud of how everyone is competing. Against SFA, it’s about staying locked in, focusing on what we can control, and setting the tone early in doubles.”
The rematch is set for 6 p.m. today, with a trip to the SLC Tournament championship on the line. The tournament winner goes to the NCAA Tournament.
