THIBODAUX, La. – Nicholls State University women's tennis players Stephanie Barnett and Mariia Kozachok picked up their ninth and eighth singles wins, respectively, to lead the Colonels to a 4-3 win over Stephen F. Austin Saturday at the Colonel Tennis Complex.
 
Nicholls (8-3, 1-1 SLC)) won the double point with 6-1 wins on courts No. 1 and 2 before heading into a battle in singles with Stephen F. Austin (0-10, 0-3 SLC). Both teams won three matches, and it came down to Kozachok against Armelle Cerdan on the No. 3 line. Kozachok won the first set, was edged in the second and clinched the team win with a 6-2, 6-7 (8), 7-5 victory.
 
"It was a tremendous conference win today," said Greg Harkins, Nicholls tennis head coach. "For Mariia to come back from 5-3 in the final set and fight off four match points was the definition of Colonel Strong. This is our third 4-3 win this season, each one clinched by a separate person. I'm so proud of her and the team, just great all-around play and effort."
 
Kozachok teamed up with Marina Vigil for the win at No. 2, while Barnett and Lingfeng Gu won on the top line.
 
Nicholls then took a 3-1 lead in singles with wins at 6 and 1. Anastasia Kuzevanova got things started with a 6-1, 6-2 win at the bottom of the lineup. SFA won on court 5, but Barnett put Nicholls a point away from clinching with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Sian Payne at No. 1.
 
But SFA stormed back, taking courts 2 and 4 to even it up. Gu suffered a three-set loss and Vigil lost a hard-fought 7-6 (8), 6-3 decision at No. 4.
 
With the match on the line, Kozachok was able to pick up her third straight win in singles, improving to 9-2 on the season.
 
UP NEXT
 
Nicholls will host Northwestern State on Monday at noon. The match was scheduled for Sunday but was pushed back a day due to rain in the forecast.