A sweltering Jack Fisher Tennis Complex was just one challenge laid in front of the Northwestern State tennis team in Saturday’s final day of the Lady Demon Invitational.
No matter, the host team handled nearly every obstacle in its way, especially in singles competition.
Graduate student Zoi Spyrou and freshmen Nico Tagami and Zala Vnuk all completed perfect runs through their draws with each having to battle deep into their lone singles matches of the day.
“The girls handled adversity and frustration and all the emotions that are involved in a match in a very highly effective manner,” fourth-year head coach Marcos Morelli said.
Despite taking down Tyler Junior College’s Katina Estefania Zepeda Barrios in straight sets, Spyrou had to earn it.
After grabbing a 6-4 first-set victory, Spyrou found herself trailing midway through the second set before winning the final three games to seal the White Draw championship and avoid a super tiebreaker.
“She came into the match not feeling great,” Morelli said. “As the match went on, the situation was getting tougher, but she was super tough. She pushed through, and I’m proud of her.”
Martina Acebedo Bonocore set Northwestern’s perfect singles day in motion, cruising past Stephen F. Austin’s Avery Kinsey, 6-1, 6-0 to clinch the Yellow Draw’s consolation championship.
VOLLEYBALL: In Troy, Ala., NSU extended its winning streak to seven matches before tournament host Troy prevailed 3-0 (25-12, 25-22 and 25-22) over the Demons on Saturday.
Northwestern defeated Murray State 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-19 and 25-17) and The Citadel 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 24-26 and 25-19) in earlier matches in the Troy Invitational.
The Southland Conference season starts on the road this week, Thursday at Houston Christian and Saturday at Incarnate Word.
“I tip my hat to Troy,” said Demons head coach Ben Kaszeta. “They were a little too much for us. They were disciplined and attacked our defense in different ways than others did. We came to this tournament to play them because I knew they were a really good program that will help us prepare for conference play. I’m happy with how we fought after the first set. They hit us hard and we responded. Not fast enough but responded well.
”We definitely got better tonight. We even had leads going to the end of the other two sets. This should help us prepare for our first weekend in conference.”