Sept. 26, 2010

WATERLOO, Iowa - The Northern Illinois women's tennis team ended the 2010 UNI Invitational with a total of seven wins, including a pair of exhibition victories in singles play on Sunday afternoon. After inclement weather washed out the consolation draws in all doubles flights, NIU's tandem of Emily Rogers and Manon Denis was not able to advance further after their impressive win over Minnesota on Friday.

"I knew this was going to be a great tournament for us, because we had some great opportunities to challenge ourselves, and we definitely did that," said NIU head coach Ryun Ferrell. "Our tournament was tough a couple of weeks ago, this one was one of the better fields I have seen over the years, and next weekend at UIC, we'll have all tough matches. That's going to help us get tougher."

Sophomore Kelly Phillips made the most of her opportunity in the consolation draw of the "Silver" singles flight, blanking South Dakota's Natalia Medina (6-0, 6-0). She then advanced to the consolation semifinals, where she won the first set in a tiebreaker, and was leading 1-0 in the second set, before Milwaukee's Kelly Fritz retired. The championship match was not contested.

"Kelly (Phillips) looked really good; I'm real proud of her," Ferrell said. "She's really moving well, and is starting to figure out her potential, which is great to see. She looks like a completely different player than what we saw last year."

In all, Phillips and freshman Haley Dekkinga combined to post four of NIU's seven wins, after also teaming to defeat South Dakota State in the opening round of the "Gold" doubles flight. The duo then fell in a hard-fought, 8-4 decision versus Missouri in the ensuing round.

In Sunday's exhibition action, the Huskies shined in the "Bronze" singles flight, with freshman Ilse Pacheco picking up a straight-set (6-4, 6-4) win over South Dakota's Kelly Foster, and Martina Schnapp outlasting Missouri's Maureen Modesto in a shortened three frames 3-6, 6-1 (10-3).

"We had good results in the exhibition matches today, which all count toward individual records," said Ferrell. "Martina (Schnapp) beat a nice player from Missouri, and both Ilse (Pacheco) and Manon (Denis) ended with wins. We've talked to our freshmen about playing more of a grinding style, and one that can break down opponents. They both did that today and got it done."

The Huskies will head to the Windy City to compete in the UIC Invitational next weekend (Oct. 1-2).

Platinum Flight Singles
Manca Krizman (Drake) def. Emily Rogers (NIU), 6-0, 6-2
Kaitlyn Ritchie (Missouri) def. Martina Schnapp (NIU), 6-2, 7-5

Platinum Flight Consolation Singles
Nicole Miller (Bradley) def. Emily Rogers (NIU), 6-2, 6-2
Maddy Soule (Milwaukee) def. Martina Schnapp (NIU), 6-0, 6-2

Gold Flight Singles
Haley Dekkinga (NIU) def. Jamie Mera (Missouri) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 [8-6]
Jessica Young (Iowa) def. Haley Dekkinga (NIU), 6-1, 6-4
Jessica Labarte (Drake) def. Sara McLaughlin (NIU), 6-4, 6-4

Gold Flight Consolation Singles
Megan McDougal (SDSU) def. Sara McLaughlin (NIU), 6-3, 6-7, (10-6)

Silver Flight Singles
Christina Harazin (Iowa) def. Kelly Phillips (NIU), 2-6, 6-2, 6-1

Silver Flight Consolation Singles
Kelly Phillips (NIU) def. Natalia Medina (SDSU), 6-0, 6-0
Kelly Phillips (NIU) def. Kelly Fritz (Milwaukee), 7-6, 1-0 default

Bronze Flight Singles
Annemijn Koenen (Missouri) def. Rebecca Hansmann (NIU), 6-0, 6-0
Emma Waites (Iowa State) def. Manon Denis (NIU), 6-3, 6-3
Meredith McDonagh (Bradley) def. Ilse Pacheco (NIU), 6-2, 6-3

Bronze Flight Consolation Singles
Megan Sween (UND) def. Rebecca Hansmann (NIU), 6-1, 6-0
Steph Beihn (UND) def. Manon Denis (NIU), 6-4, 6-3
Kristin Kurer (Milwaukee) def. Ilse Pacheco (NIU), 6-2, 6-0
Martina Schnapp (NIU) def. Maureen Modesto (MIZZ), 3-6, 6-1, (10-3): Exhibition
Maddie Warder (USD) def. Rebecca Hansmann (NIU), 6-2, 6-1: Exhibition
Ilse Pacheco (NIU) def. Kelsey Foster (USD), 6-4, 6-4: Exhibition

Platinum Flight Doubles
Molnar/Poggensee-Wei (Iowa) def. Denis/Rogers (NIU), 8-2
Friedlund/McLaughlin (NIU) def. McDougal/Henry (SDSU), 8-3
Walker/Gonzalez (UNI) def. Friedlund/McLauglin (NIU), 8-3

Platinum Flight Consolation Doubles
Denis/Rogers (NIU) def. Spilca/Renault (Minnesota), 8-6

Gold Flight Doubles
Koenen/Modesto (Missouri) def. Hansmann/Pacheco (NIU), 8-2
Phillips/Dekkinga (NIU) def. Goeden/Elifson (SDSU), 8-2
Besovic/Christensen (Missouri) def. Philips/Dekkinga (NIU), 8-4

Gold Flight Consolation Doubles
Warder/Foster (USD) def. Hansmann/Pacheco (NIU), 8-1