April 15, 2011
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Northern Illinois women's tennis team fell at Buffalo on Friday afternoon in the first of its two-match Mid-American Conference weekend road trip. The Huskies dropped a 7-0 decision to the Bulls at the Miller Tennis Center.
The Huskies returned to indoor play at Buffalo after playing both of their matches last weekend outdoors in DeKalb.
"I thought that overall our team looked alright today," said NIU head coach Ryun Ferrell. "Buffalo came out hot, and we were a little bit flat and dug ourselves an early hole. Our energy and our attitude were pretty good today and those are the positives that we will take into another tough match tomorrow against Akron."
"We continue to make positive strides and that is what we are focused on in the final weeks of the season leading into the conference tournament."
Sara McLaughlin fell in a third-set super tiebreaker in fourth flight singles action. McLaughlin fell 6-4 in the first set to Kira Golenko before rebounding to cruise to a second set win, 6-1. Golenko answered back, taking the super tiebreaker, 10-4.
At fifth singles, NIU wins leader Haley Dekkinga dropped a tight first set, 7-5, to Tamara Markovic. Markovic also claimed the second set to ensure six singles wins for the Bulls.
Coming off a victory last time out against Ball State, Katie Friedlund and McLaughlin gave a strong effort at number two doubles before ultimately falling to Aleksandra Petrova and Golenko, 8-4.
The Huskies will continue their weekend road trip on Saturday when they travel to Akron to meet the Zips.
Buffalo 7, Northern Illinois 0
Doubles:
1. Diana Popescu/Miranda Podlas (UB) def. Emily Rogers/Haley Dekkinga (NIU), 8-2
2. Aleksandra Petrova/Kira Golenko (UB) def. Kathryn Friedlund/Sara McLaughlin (NIU), 8-4
3. Marta Stoyanova/Shelby Bates (UB) def. Kelly Phillips/Ilse Pacheco (NIU), 8-2
Singles:
1. Diana Popescu (UB) def. Kelly Phillips (NIU), 6-1, 6-2
2. Aleksandra Petrova (UB) def. Martina Schnapp (NIU), 6-0, 6-1
3. Marta Stoyanova (UB) def. Emily Rogers (NIU), 6-3, 6-0
4. Kira Golenko (UB) def. Sara McLaughlin (NIU), 6-4, 1-6, 10-4
5. Tamara Markovic (UB) def. Haley Dekkinga (NIU), 7-5, 6-0
6. Miranda Podlas (UB) def. Ilse Pacheco (NIU), 6-3, 6-0
