April 15, 2010
DEKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois women's tennis team will look to gather momentum heading into the Mid-American Conference Tournament this weekend, when the Huskies wrap-up regular season league play on the road versus Bowling Green on Friday, and Western Michigan Saturday. Both matches are set to begin at noon CST.
NIU (7-10, 1-5 MAC) dropped two hard-fought matches at home last weekend, falling in a 6-1 decision versus nationally-ranked Akron last Friday, along with a 5-2 setback at the hands of Buffalo on Saturday.
"This weekend is important for us, because we want to be playing our best tennis down the stretch," said NIU head coach Ryun Ferrell. "This team has been through a lot the last three weeks, and they're ready to have a solid end to their season. We had a great week of practice and will be ready to play.
"Bowling Green and Western Michigan are both good teams, particularly at home. It will be a great challenge for us, but I also think we match-up pretty well. We're looking forward to it."
Junior Martina Schnapp, the sixth singles player in Ferrell's lineup, defeated her counterpart from both Akron and Buffalo, improving her MAC singles record to 4-2 on the season. Sophomore Sara McLaughlin, the No. 4 singles performer and a member of Ferrell's No. 2 doubles team, accounted for wins in both singles and doubles play against the Bulls.
"Martina has been playing really well lately, and match-by-match, is getting stronger, faster and quicker. She is playing her best tennis right now," Ferrell added. "Sara is very dialed-in right now. She's got a mental game like a piece of iron; it doesn't want to bend, and she showed that last weekend."
Bowling Green is 11-7 in dual matches this season, and are 1-4 overall in MAC play. The Falcons have lost the last four matches, including a pair of 4-3 road setbacks at Toledo and Eastern Michigan last weekend. Northern Illinois leads the all-time series, 11-10, but the Falcons have captured the last five meetings. BGSU won, 6-1, in DeKalb last April. NIU's last win over the Falcons came in April 2004.
Western Michigan will be playing its first home match in more than two months Saturday when the Huskies invade Sorensen Courts in Kalamazoo. The Broncos have won four-straight overall, and swept a pair of road matches last weekend with a 4-3 victory indoors at in-state rival Eastern Michigan, and an outdoor triumph over Toledo, 5-2, last Saturday. The Broncos earned a 6-1 win in DeKalb last season.
