Oct. 24, 2010
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Northern Illinois women's tennis team concluded its fall season today as they finished up play in the ITA Midwest Regional (Alt.). In total, the Huskies came away with six wins during the weekend tournament.
"The first day was rough, but as the tournament wore on we got tougher and tougher," said NIU head coach Ryun Ferrell. "That's what you want to see your team do--get better and better as a tournament goes on."
Freshman Haley Dekkinga led the way with three wins, one over fellow freshman teammate Ilse Pecheco in a match that neither was all that comfortable playing. She also earned an 8-5 doubles victory with sophomore Kelly Phillips over a pair from Western Michigan.
"Haley Dekkinga is just a machine," Ferrell said. "She's playing so tough right now. She played the number two player from UIC and had some chances, but [Ilinca] Cristescu got hot and played how she should be playing and we just couldn't hang on with her."
Phillips and Pacheco each added a singles victory to the team's total, while the doubles pair of Emily Rogers and Manon Denis gave the team a second doubles win.
Despite coming up short in the win column, Ferrell was very impressed with the play of junior Sara McLaughlin, who turned in one of the highlights of the weekend in a near three-hour, three-set match against Bowling Green's number one player, Christine Chiricosta.
"We've never done well against her," said Ferrell of the 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 decision. "Sara was getting worked in the first set, but just kept plugging away. Before you knew it, she won the second set and had a chance to take the entire thing in the third, but came up just a little short. It was great. She's really showing that she can hang with anybody."
Now with almost three months until the spring seasons opens, Ferrell is looking to work on the little things that he hasn't had the chance to work on with his team. "We have so many new kids that I've been teaching them the basics of how to play college tennis, which is basically how to keep the ball in play and be patient out there," Ferrell said. "We kind of have that down right now.
"I really want to implement my doubles philosophy now and get these kids to work on that the next few weeks. We're also going to re-evaluate all the doubles teams and singles positions and figure out what this team is going to look like in the spring."
The Huskies will open up the spring season on Jan. 30 at Wisconsin.
Singles Black Flight
Day One
Maddie Eccleston (Bowling Green) def. Kelly Phillips (NIU), 6-3, 6-3
Ilinca Cristescu (Illinois-Chicago) def. Haley Dekkinga (NIU), 6-7 (3), 6-0, 6-0
Nini Sujashvili (Western Michigan) def. Ilse Pacheco (NIU), 6-1, 6-3
Day Two
Kelly Phillips (NIU) def. Beth Ganser (Wisconsin-Milwaukee), 6-3, 6-2
Haley Dekkinga (NIU) def. Chelsea Utting (Maquette), Ret. Inj.
Ilse Pecheco (NIU) def. Peggy Moore (Chicago State), 6-3, 6-3
Day Three
Nicole Chiricosta (Bowling Green) def. Kelly Phillips (NIU), 6-0, 6-3
Haley Dekkinga (NIU) def. Ilse Pecheco (NIU), 6-1, 6-0
Nicole Chiricosta (Bowling Green) def. Haley Dekkinga (NIU), 6-3, 6-1
Singles Gold Flight
Day One
Christine Chiricosta (Bowling Green) def. Sara McLaughlin (NIU), 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
Maria Kovaleva (Illinois-Chicago) def. Martina Schnapp (NIU), 6-0, 6-1
Day Two
Gillian Hush (Maquette) def. Sara McLaughlin (NIU), 6-3, 6-1
Kelly Barry (Marqette) def. Martina Schnapp (NIU), 6-1, 6-0
Day Three
Juan Rolina Teyoprayitno (Chicago State) def. Martina Schnapp (NIU), 7-5, ret.
Doubles
Day One
Lingl/Guentert (Michigan State) def. Dekkinga/Phillips (NIU), 8-5
Shustova/Sujashvili (Western Michigan) def. Denis/Rogers (NIU), 8-5
Cristescu/Tsertsvadze (Illinois-Chicago) def. Friedland/McLaughlin (NIU), 8-1
Soule/Fritz (Wisconsin-Milwaukee) def. Dekkinga/Phillips (NIU), 8-5
Gow/Schoen (Wisconsin-Milwauke) def. Denis/Rogers (NIU), 8-4
Hush/Barry (Maquette) def. Friedland/McLaughlin (NIU), 8-4
Day Two
Dekkinga/Phillips (NIU) def. Shustova/Sujashvili (Western Michigan), 8-5
Denis/Rogers (NIU) def. Gasner/Donovan (Wisconsin-Milwaukee), 8-4
N. Chircosta/Hill (Bowling Green) def. Friedland/McLaughlin (NIU), 8-4
--NIU--
