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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The No. 21-ranked Northeastern State women's tennis team will play host to Southern Nazarene University and Missouri Western State University this weekend at the NSU Tennis Complex.
 
The matches were originally scheduled to be contested at 2 p.m. April 17 and 2 p.m. April 18, respectively, but thunderstorms in the weekend forecast has forced altered plans.
 
The RiverHawks (14-4, 9-0 MIAA) will first meet the Crimson Storm (2-9, 2-4 GAC) in nonconference action at 1 p.m. April 17 and then will face off with the Griffons (10-7, 4-4 MIAA) at 4 p.m. April 20.
 
Due to the change in schedule, the USTA Kid's Day set for April 18 has been canceled and will be rescheduled for May 2-5 if NSU is selected to host an NCAA Championship regional.

Northeastern State is currently the No. 1-ranked team in the Central Region according to the NCAA. The RiverHawks have already clinched no worse than a share of 2015 MIAA Regular Season Championship and the top seed in the 2015 MIAA Championship tournament for the second-straight year. They will need to defeat Missouri Western State in order to clinch the regular-season trophy outright.
 
NSU is coming off a pair of big victories over league foes Washburn (9-0) and Emporia State (8-1) this past weekend, and the team has now won its last 18 regular-season MIAA matches. The RiverHawks have defeated all nine league opponents faced this season by at least a 7-2 margin.
 
Junior Patricia Husakova boasts a top record of 16-1 in singles, playing primarily at the No. 2 position. Freshman Molly Worden is 14-4, and No. 21-ranked junior Kristina Savchenkov is 13-4. Husakova and Savchenkov comprise the No. 12-ranked doubles team in the nation, and they are 15-1 as a tandem this spring.
 
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON STORM
Southern Nazarene enters the weekend on a five-match losing streak. The Crimson Storm owns victories over Ouachita Baptist (6-3) and Harding (5-4) this season. Recent losses have come at the hands of Texas A&M-Kingsville (5-4), Henderson State (5-4), East Central (5-4) and Arkansas Tech (7-2).
 
SNU is led by Masha Andrianova, who is 8-3 playing at the No. 1 singles position. Polina Chala is 7-4 at No. 2 and is the only other member of the team with a winning singles record. Andrianova and Natalia Moreno are 6-5 playing mostly at No. 1 doubles, while Chala and Karina Kotova are 7-4 playing at No. 2 doubles.
 
This will be the first meeting between the two programs since NSU joined the MIAA prior to the 2013 campaign.
 
SCOUTING THE GRIFFONS
Missouri Western State is 4-2 in its last six matches, which includes a 9-0 wins over College St. Mary's, Lincoln and Baker. The Griffons also own victories over Lindenwood (6-3), Fort Hays State (7-2) and Washburn (7-2) this season. They were ranked No. 9 in the NCAA Central Region Rankings last week, but they dropped out in this week's rankings.
 
MWSU is led by Yasmine El Ghazi, who is 10-4 and plays primarily at No. 4 singles. Ceara Boldridge is 8-5 at the bottom of the lineup, and Meara Smith is 7-2 playing mostly at No. 6. The top doubles tandem of El Ghazi and Sarah Giraldo are 8-4.
 
Since NSU joined the MIAA prior to the 2013 season, the RiverHawks lead the series with the Griffons 2-0. Northeastern State picked up a 9-0 triumph in 2013 and won 5-1 last season.
 
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