TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State tennis makes its final conference road trip this weekend to Newman and Emporia State.

FIRST SERVE

1. Northeastern State has played nine of its matches on the road this spring. In MIAA play, the RiverHawks are 2-2 with both wins coming away from Tahlequah. They are 6-6 overall and had their four-match win streak snapped this past weekend with Northwest Missouri and No. 19 Washburn in town.
2. The RiverHawks have secured the doubles point in all six of their wins.
3. After experimenting with different lineups, NSU seems to have found a winning combination by moving Melissa Vera to the No. 4 flight in singles where she is 5-2. Maria Popova is 5-4 this season on court No. 2 and Vera Carvalho is 6-2 on court No. 5. The RiverHawks are above .500 on those three courts.
4. Head coach Tim McLane is in his first season with the RiverHawks. He was hired Dec. 21, following stops at South Carolina Upstate and Mercer.
5. Fans are allowed at both matches and asked to socially distance the best they can. Court access is not permitted by spectators.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS 
Newman - Saturday at 1 p.m.

1. The Jets are 6-4 (0-2 in MIAA) and have not played since March 27 when they were swept by Washburn. Northwest Missouri is Newman's other MIAA setback.
2. The programs have not met since 2014 and NSU has never hosted the Jets in Tahlequah. The series is tied 1-1.
3. Newman has winning records on the No. 3-5 courts.

Emporia State - Sunday at 11 a.m.

1. The Hornets are 5-2 (0-2 in MIAA) and were swept by Northwest Missouri and Washburn most recently.
2. Before hosting NSU, Emporia State will welcome Southern Arkansas (Friday) and No. 5 Central Oklahoma (Saturday).
3. Dating back to 1997, NSU has a 10-1 series lead on Emporia State. The RiverHawks edged out ESU 4-3 in its last meeting on April 4, 2019.

ITA/UTR PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Popova was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and Universal Tennis Ranking Player of the week on March 31 for her match clinching wins. She won four-straight singles matches to increase her UTR from 0.25 to 7.44.

UP NEXT: Northeastern State hosts No. 5 Central Oklahoma on Saturday April 17 at the NSU Tennis Complex.