Photos

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – After dropping the doubles point, the Nicholls State University men's tennis team rallied back in singles play, winning the first four matches to earn a 4-1 victory over UT Arlington in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday at the Schlief Tennis Complex.

No. 2 Nicholls (10-9) will take on No. 4 UTSA (12-10), which defeated top seed and defending champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday, 4-2. The championship match is scheduled for Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

"Our team was just a little more hungry than they were," Nicholls head coach Meenakshi Sundaram said. "My guys really showed some character and that's something that they've shown all season long. They dug deep down and I think that we wanted it a little more."

Unlike the first matchup between the teams, UTA (10-13) came away with the doubles point by winning two of three matches. Damjan Despotovski and Sidharth Sivakumar fell in the No. 3 match, 9-7, before Roy Knight and Palash Tiwari evened it up with an 8-6 victory in the No. 1 bout. However, in the No. 2 match, UTA's David Subirats/Yauheni Yakauleu avenged their only conference loss of the season by outlasting Dmitry Kozionov/ Shayann Vaezzadeh in extra points, 9-8 (7-5).

In singles play, Kozionov quickly tied the score at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Soren Goritzka in the No. 2 match before Despotovski retired Southland Conference Player of the Year Mindaugas Celedinas in the No. 1 position 6-3, 1-0.

Needing two points to clinch the match, Tiwari picked up a three-set victory for the Colonels over Nicholas Moreno 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 at No. 4 and Sivakumar sealed the win with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph in the No. 6 flight.

The Colonels will be competing for their first Southland Conference championship in program history. In the first matchup against UTSA earlier this season, Nicholls came away with 4-3 victory.

Nicholls 4, UT Arlington 1

Singles
1. Damjan Despotovski (NICH) def. Mindaugas Celedinas (UTA) 6-3, 1-0, retired
2. Dmitry Kozionov (NICH) def. Soren Goritzka (UTA) 6-3, 6-1
3. Shayann Vaezzadeh (NICH) vs. Yauheni Yakauleu (UTA) unfinished
4. Palash Tiwari (NICH) def. Nicolas Moreno (UTA) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
5. Roy Knight (NICH) vs. David Subirats (UTA) unfinished
6. Sidharth Sivakumar (NICH) def. Jason Lateko (UTA) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles
1. Knight/ Tiwari (NICH) def. Celedinas/ Goritzka (UTA) 8-6
2. Subirats/ Yakauleu (UTA) def. Kozionov/ Vaezzadeh (NICH) 9-8 (7-5)
3. Moreno/ Lateko (UTA) def. Despotovski/ Sivakumar (NICH) 9-7

Match Notes:
UT Arlington: 10-13
Nicholls: 10-9
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,1,4,6)
2012 SLC Men's Championship Tournament - Semifinals
T-3:10 A-89