Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s Lady Demons tennis team competed in their first match-up of the season from Sept. 11 through Sept. 14 at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton.
NSU went up against UNT, Oral Roberts University (ORU), the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and Tyler Junior College (TJC). They played in four different brackets, each with East and West sides, as well as two brackets for doubles.
In the East side of Pool A, junior Maria Farina had a great showing but lost in the first round to UTA’s Sofia Selle. On the West side of Pool A, Farina earned a victory over ORU’s Ava Goodelland. Senior Zoi Spyrou won her match on the West side by beating ORU’s Miranda Noor.
In the East side of Pool B, junior Honoka Umeda pulled through two double-tiebreakers to win her first round match against UTA’s Diana Kailbara. “In the final set I didn’t change anything, I just tried my best, and gave my everything at every point,” Umeda said.
Umeda also won her semifinals match to advance to the finals, where she won Pool B for the Demons against UTA’s Vanja Cado.
Given the tennis team is very young at NSU, with most of the Lady Demons making their debuts this weekend, Umeda’s success set the tone for the team. “As a junior I have to lead, as a player, and I’ll always be there to scream or cheer on the team,” Umeda said.
In Pool C, freshman Martina Acebedo Bonocore made her debut by winning both of her sets and taking the first round against TJC’s Natalia Garcia Matea, though she lost in the second-round to UNT’s Pia Petelinsek.
In Pool D, there were two Demons competing—senior Lolita Hukasian and freshman Athina Grigoriadou. Grigoriadou’s first ever match was a victory against ORU’s Chase Holloway, and Hukasian also took a win against TJU’s Alix Dol.
In the doubles play, Umeda and Acebedo competed as a duo but fell short of winning both of their doubles. Farina and Hukasian also competed together, losing their first match but winning their next two and taking the victory in the semifinals and finals matches of the West finals.
“This was an interesting experience for me. The doubles was my first match as a Demon, but I feel like I found my inner demon and hope to win all my singles and doubles going forward,” Hukasian said.
The tennis team didn’t win every match of the weekend but had strong debuts and performances as a team, giving an overall great showing in their first tournament.
“I’m very proud of the way the team fought, especially in singles,” Marcos Morelli, head tennis coach, said. “We are trying to be tougher now, especially this week. We are going to push through physically and work into a conditioning stage and then, leading into our next tournament, we are going to be working on doubles.”
The Lady Demons’ next tournament is the Texas State Invitational on Oct. 3 in San Marcos, Texas.
