Final Stats

BEAUMONT - The Lady Cardinals battled to the very end, but Northwestern State was able to jump out to an early lead and hold it on Monday when Lamar fell 4-3 at the Thompson Family Tennis Courts in Southland Conference women's tennis action.

The loss dropped the Lady Cardinals to 9-12 on the year and 3-8 in league action, and left LU one win away from the Southland Conference Tournament. Northwestern State (13-8, 9-2) locked up the third seed.

Tatiana Larina and Natalya Krutova gave NSU the early edge in doubles with an 8-4 win over Katya Lapayeva and Carolina Maso on No. 1. After they were challenged by head coach David Wong, Stephanie Marchena and Hanna Elfving answered a 7-4 deficit with an 8-7 victory. They defeated Aliona Ladutska and Emily Kerr on line three to even to doubles point.

The Lady Demons took the duo point on an 8-4 win by Kateryna Piatakova and Polina Ivanova over Anna Spengler and Andrea Ivanovic on court two.

Krutova gave Northwestern State a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 win from position two against Ivanovic, but Maso answered in her final match as a Lady Cardinal with a win. She improved her singles record to 12-7 with a 7-6, 6-3 win on the fourth line.

Lapayeva fell early with a set one loss, but she won her sixth match in a row and claimed a winning record with a 2-6, 6-2, 5-4 line one win over Larina. The sophomore was 11-10 on the year and 6-5 in league.

Elfving took a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set win over Barbora Kollarova on No. 6. She improved to 9-9 on the season and 4-7 in SLC play.

Ladutska clinched the match on court three after Piatakova gave NSU a 3-1 lead on court five. Piatakova won over Marchena, 6-3, 6-1, and Ladutska defeated Spengler 6-3, 6-2.

The loss ended the season for Lamar, and All-Southland Conference awards will be announced later in the week.

Northwestern State 4, Lamar 3