LINCOLN, Neb. – A pair of dramatic doubles wins for #20 Northeastern State paved the way for their fifth straight MIAA finals appearance with a 5-1 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday evening.
 
The championship match will pit the RiverHawks against a familiar foe, Southwest Baptist, who has clipped NSU in all of the four previous meetings in the tournament final. In the regular season meeting earlier this year, NSU beat the Bearcats 6-3 in Tahlequah.
 
Wednesday's win was the twelfth in a row for the RiverHawks who remained ranked on top of the NCAA Central Region for the third week with the release of poll coming out prior to the match.
 
The drama of the evening was on court one and three in doubles where the RiverHawks failed to clinch wins while leading 8-7.  Molly Worden and Valeriia Efimenko were able to overtake UNK's top-pair in a tiebreaker 7-3 on court one; Betka Gombarova and Karla Tomaic rallied late and broke a 6-6 tiebreaker to win 8-6. 
 
Both courts were 9-8 wins for NSU; Caitlin McCullough and Easton Parker won 8-2 and were first off the court in doubles.
 
With the three-point lead, the RiverHawks only needed two points, and McCullough put them one away from a match win with a 6-3, 6-1 win on court-3.   The Lopers picked up their lone point on court-1 with a with 6-2, 6-2 over Worden before the Efimenko clinched the match 15 minutes later on court-2 with a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
 
The win sends Northeastern State to 17-5 overall, while UNK falls to 13-11.
 
Thursday's championship will be at 9 a.m.; a link to live scoring being found on GoRiverHawksGo.com
 
#20 Northeastern State 5, Nebraska-Kearney 1
Apr 19, 2017 at Lincoln, Neb. (Dillon Tennis Center)
 
Singles competition
1. Royo,Ana (UNK) def. #30 Molly Worden (NSU) 6-2, 6-2
2. Valeriia Efimenko (NSU) def. Sun,Sherry (UNK) 6-3, 7-5
3. Caitlin McCullough (NSU) def. Alvarez,Amanda (UNK) 6-3, 6-1
4. Karla Tomaic (NSU) vs. Neil,Emma (UNK) 1-6, 0-1, unfinished
5. Easton Parker (NSU) vs. Parnell,Camryn (UNK) 0-1, unfinished
6. Betka Gombarova (NSU) vs. Rodriguez,Sthefani (UNK) unfinished
 
Doubles competition
1. #20 Molly Worden/Valeriia Efimenko (NSU) def. Parnell,Camryn/Royo,Ana (UNK) 9-8 (7-3)
2. Caitlin McCullough/Easton Parker (NSU) def. Sun,Sherry/Rodriguez,Sthefani (UNK) 8-2
3. Betka Gombarova/Karla Tomaic (NSU) def. Alvarez,Amanda/Neil,Emma (UNK) 9-8 (8-6)
 
Match Notes
Nebraska-Kearney 13-11; Regional ranking #5
Northeastern State 17-5; National ranking #20; Regional ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,1,2)