BEAUMONT, Texas – Freshman Arina Gudovskaya defeated Northwestern State's Zoi Spyrou, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, at No. 1 singles but it wasn't enough to hand Northwestern State its first Southland Conference loss. The Demons held on to defeat Lamar, 6-1, Monday afternoon at the Thompson Family Tennis Center.
 
The match – which was pushed to a noon start due to rain – got off to a strong start for the Demons in doubles play. Northwestern State took early leads on courts 1 and 3, but Lamar's duo of Gudovskaya and freshman Luana Paiva were locked in a close battle on court 2. Unfortunately, the Demons held on to their leads on the other two courts to claim the point halting the contest on court 2.
 
NSU then jumped out to first set leads on three of the six singles courts. Gudovskaya took her opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (8-6), while junior Megan Do, and freshman Savannah Bijlsma also won their opening sets on courts 3 and 5, respectively. Gudovskaya closed out her match with a 6-4 decision in the second set, but the Cardinals were unable to pick off any other courts.
 
The Cardinals return to action Saturday when they travel to Lake Charles, La., to face rival McNeese. The match against the Cowgirls is reschedule from a contest that was postponed earlier this season due to rain.