HAMMOND — In another Southland Conference women’s tennis nailbiter, Northwestern State edged Southeastern Louisiana 4–3 on Monday at the Southeastern Tennis Complex, with Honoka Umeda clinching the outcome in a three-set battle at the No. 1 position.
The Lady Demons (9–5 overall, 5–1 in the SLC) overcame an early deficit after dropping the doubles point.
“The girls are very resilient,” head coach Marcos Morelli said. “I’m proud of how they handled adversity.”
SLU took control in doubles, earning wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
Bente Bierma and Paige Duncan defeated Honoka Umeda and Sofi Garcia 6–4, while Taisia Bolsova and Aitana Darder edged Maria Farina and Lija Mumlek in a tight 7–6(5) match to secure the point. Martina Acebedo Bonocore and Athina Grigoriadou provided the lone doubles win for Northwestern State with a 6–4 victory at No. 3.
Trailing 1–0, the Lady Demons responded in singles play.
Farina quickly evened the match with a dominant 6–0, 6–0, victory over Bente Bierma at No. 2. Hukasian followed with a commanding 6–1, 6–0, win against Adriana Tirado at No. 6 to give NSU its first lead of the day.
“Those wins were very important,” Morelli said. “They helped shift the momentum to our side.”
The Lions (9–6, 2–3) answered with a pair of wins to regain the advantage. Duncan defeated Garcia 6–3, 6–4 at No. 5, and Darder outlasted Grigoriadou 6–4, 4–6, 6–1 at No. 3 to put Southeastern ahead 3–2.
Acebedo brought the Lady Demons level once again, securing a steady 6–4, 6–4, win over Tetradze at No. 4 to tie the overall match 3-3 and set up a decisive final court.
That left the outcome in the hands of Umeda at the top of the lineup.
After dropping the opening set 6–3, Umeda responded with composure, taking the second set 6–4 before pulling away in the third. She closed out the set 6–2 to complete the comeback and secure the 4–3 team victory for Northwestern.
“She handled adversity very well,” Morelli said. “She made the right adjustments and found her best level in the third set.”
It was the Lady Demons’ fifth SLC match in six outings decided on the final court.
“Anyone can beat anyone,” Morelli said. “Most matches in this conference come down to the final court.”
The Lady Demons split the weekend road trip 1–1. They come home to host Stephen F. Austin Saturday at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex. Doubles play is scheduled for 11 a.m.
In the final regular-season match of SLC competition last spring, the Ladyjacks denied the Lady Demons the outright regular season crown last spring and were part of a three-way tri-championship with NSU and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
