The Nicholls State University women’s tennis team fought back from a 2-0 deficit, tying the Southland Conference Tournament championship match before dropping a pair of three-set matches and the championship to Northwestern State University 4-2.

The Colonels would not have gotten the chance to play for the tournament championship without a come-from-behind victory from in the last singles match of the semifinals against McNeese State University. Junior Isla Broc dropped the first set, but battled back to win the game 4-3 and sent the squad to the championship match.

“Watching that match was the best feeling I’ve had on a tennis court,” Maurie Aubert said. “We know how much of a fighter Isla is and watching her play was incredible.”

Head Coach Meenakashi Sundaram said Broc learned a mindset of refusing to lose from being around Aubert, the teams’ only senior, and practicing with full intensity everyday.

The win sent the Colonels to their first Tournament Championship in twenty years. Nicholls beat the Lady Demons in a regular season matchup 4-0 earlier this month.
“We knew it was going to be hard to get the doubles point from them,” junior Stephanie Barnett said. “They are tough opponents and the first time we played them we came out aggressive and that’s why things went our way.”

Despite posting an 11-2 mark in conference doubles matches, Nicholls dropped doubles point to start the championship match.

A loss by junior Kateryna Nakonechna to open singles play extended the Lady Demon’s lead to two points.

“Northwestern has been there before,” Sundaram said. “They came out aggressive and right away we were on the back foot.”

However, Aubert, who leaves Nicholls with an impressive 61-23 record in singles matches, and Broc, 18-1 in Southland singles matches, remained consistent and won their matches to tie the overall score.

The final three singles matches took three sets each to decide the champion. With Barnett clawing back from a 3-1 deficit to take a 6-5 lead, teammates Milou Pietersz and Klara Skopac were defeated almost simultaneously. Branett, who finished the season with an 18-3 record, was unable to finish her match as the Lady Demons won the championship clinching points.

For Nicholls women’s athletics, 2015 was a banner year. The soccer team won its first playoff game in program history and the basketball team set a record for conference wins, but chief among the accolades is the tennis team winning a share of the regular season Southland Conference championship with a program record 20 wins, the first regular season title for the school in ten years.

“For our team, it shows the girls what I’ve always seen in them,” Sundaram said. “I recruited them here knowing some things they maybe didn’t know about themselves.”

Individually, two Colonels received postseason honors. Barnett received the Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year Award, while Broc earned second team All-Conference recognition.

“For us, it was the first time our coaching staff and players have been in the finals,” Sundaram said, “and it will be the last time we get there and lose.”