NATCHITOCHES – Southland Conference Player of the Week Polina Konop leads the way for the Northwestern State women's tennis team as the Lady Demons prepare to host their home opener against future SLC foe Abilene Christian on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.
 
The Lady Demons (0-1) are coming off a tough 4-3 loss to No. 45 LSU last Friday.
 
Abilene Christian opens its season on Friday morning at Centenary before taking on the Lady Demons in the afternoon. The Wildcats are ranked third in the national Division II tennis standings.
 
“We look forward to our first home match of the season against a very strong ACU team,” said Lady Demon tennis head coach Patric DuBois. “We need to be prepared for a long and hard battle against a team who has a history of defeating Division I opponents.
 
“While ACU will not be an SLC member until next year, they are certainly there already as a solid Div. I caliber program.”
 
Konop earned SLC Player of the Week after defeating LSU's Mary Jeremiah, 5-7, 6-3 7-6 (7-5), in a three-set battle. The Kiev, Ukraine native then teamed up with Krutova to take down the Lady Tiger doubles team of Ariel Morton and Jeremiah, 8-7.
 
ACU is led by 2012 All-Americans Julia Mongin, Hannah Kelley and Micah Hermsdorf. Mongin is the No. 5 singles player in Div. II and is also part of the fifth-best doubles pair with teammate Brittney Reed.
 
Kelley and Hermsdorf rank 14^th as a doubles team.
 
The Lady Demons host Southern Mississippi next Saturday at 11 a.m.