NATCHITOCHES, La. – In a back-and-forth match that took over four hours to complete, Louisiana Tech fell 4-3 to Northwestern State on Thursday afternoon at the Jack Fisher Lady Demon Complex.
 
LA Tech (17-5) was attempting to end NSU's (14-4) eight-match winning streak.  To do so, they needed to come from behind as the Lady Demons opened the day by claiming the doubles point.
 
Both courts one and three picked up 6-2 wins, including the doubles tandem of Leonie Schuknecht and Ana Rodrigues who put a stop to the seven-match winning streak of Tjasa Klevisar/Mariella Minetti.
 
This made the clincher come down to court two where Tiffani Nash and Najah Dawson were teamed up for the first time this season.  The duo forced a tiebreaker versus Rozi Dohnalova/Viktorie Wojcikova, but ended up falling 7-6 (6).
 
LA Tech quickly evened things up in singles as Schuknecht picked up a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Dohnalova at the No. 1 spot.  Soon thereafter, Alexia Romero gave the visiting team a 2-1 advantage with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Gig Kanaphuet at the No. 6 position, extending her singles winning streak to four.
 
NSU took the lead right back with straight-set wins on courts three and four that finished almost simultaneously.  Meanwhile on court two, Olga Bienzobas found herself down a set before storming back to claim a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win versus Klevisar to make it 3-all. 
 
The deciding point came down to court five between Ilana Tetruashvili and Wojcikova.  In a marathon match that lasted three hours, Wojcikova ended up coming out on top by a score of 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amanda Stone
 
"It was a really tight match today.  It is tough to lose when it comes down a matter of points and that is the way the day went for us.  We had opportunities for the doubles point, but even after losing it we still had chances to win four of the singles.  We needed to step up and execute when it really mattered.  That was the difference between a win and a loss.  Going into the final weekend of the regular season and the conference tournament soon after that, we will put more emphasis on closing and finishing. 
 
Some of the bright spots today were one doubles who looked very good.  We implemented things we have been working on and they really clicked.  Leonie and Alexia played great from start to finish in singles.  And I am really proud of Olga who picked up a tough win."
 
NOTABLES

• Leonie Schuknecht and Ana Rodrigues improved to 14-5 on the spring season.
• Alexia Romero won her fourth straight singles match, improving to 12-5 on the spring.She is 11-3 from the No. 6 spot this season.
• Leonie Schuknecht won her 11th singles match of the spring.

UP NEXT
LA Tech is scheduled to face North Texas and Grambling State in a Saturday doubleheader at the LA Tech Tennis Complex.  First serve is set for 11 a.m. with the second match following immediately after.  Prior to the matches, Najah Dawson and Ilana Tetruashvili will be honored in a Senior Day Ceremony. 
 
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