EDMOND, Okla. – The No. 7-ranked Northwest Missouri State University women's tennis team suffered a 4-3 loss at the hands of No. 50-ranked Northeastern State in the MIAA Tournament semifinals held Saturday morning at Edmond Center Court.
 
The RiverHawks advanced to the MIAA Tournament championship match to take on the Washburn Ichabods on Sunday. The RiverHawks moved to 12-7. The Bearcats saw their 12-match win streak snapped and the squad fell to 18-4 overall.
 
The Bearcats dropped the doubles point for only the second time in 12 matches. Northwest's No. 2 doubles pairing of Vera Alenicheva and Tessa Kwakernaak provided a 6-4 win over NSU's Leah Gonzalez-Edwards and Valeria Teran. Alenicheva and Kwakernaak won their 10th straight doubles match together and moved to 17-3 on the season.
 
Northwest's No. 3 doubles team of Angela per Moreno and Tyffaine Pais saw their 10-match win streak halted by NSU's Belinda Jayaprakash and Roose Karrmans, 6-3.
 
NSU's No. 39-ranked doubles duo of Emilia Cosatto and Alisha Moldakhmetova tallied a 6-4 win over Northwest's Carolina Caetano Reis and Sofia Pignataro at No. 1 doubles.
 
The Bearcats earned the first singles win of the day from Pais at No. 2 singles. Pais cruised to a 52-minute straight-sets win over NSU's Moldakhmetova, 6-2, 6-0.
 
Kwakernaak needed just over an hour to dismiss NSU's Gonzalez-Edwards at No. 3 singles by the count of 6-2, 6-2, to put Northwest into the lead at 2-1. Kwakernaak's victories moved her singles win streak to eight in a row as she improved to 12-6 on the season.
 
The RiverHawks knotted up the dual at 2-2 with a win at No. 5 singles from Teran. Teran earned a 6-1, 6-2 win over per Moreno in a 78-minute match. It was only the fifth dual loss of the season for per Moreno, who possesses a season mark of 13-5.
 
NSU won a battle of two top-10 ranked foes between Cosatto and Alenicheva at No. 1 singles to give the RiverHawks a 3-2 lead. Cosatto, ranked No. 8 in the nation, took down No. 9-ranked Alenicheva in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. The top-10 battle lasted one hour and 34 minutes.
 
The Bearcats leveled the dual at 3-3 when Caetano Reis collected a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 triumph over NSU's Karremans at No. 4 singles. The win snapped a two-match losing skid for Caetano Reis as she posted her ninth dual win of the year.
 
A berth to the finals against Washburn came down to a marathon battle at No. 6 singles. NSU's Marti scored a 6-3 opening-set win over Northwest's Carolina Lima De Oliveira. Marti finished off  De Oliveira in the second set, 7-5, as the match lasted two hours and three minutes.
 
The Bearcats will continue their season when the NCAA tournament brackets are announced. Northwest entered the week as the No. 1-ranked team in the Central Region. The top six teams in the Central Region will qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Regional field will be announced on Monday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m. (CT) and the first rounds will take place between May 6 and 9.