Sept. 30, 2011

KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Northern Illinois women's tennis team wrapped up its first day at Western Michigan's Fall MAC Invitational, featuring Mid-American Conference foes Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Toledo and host WMU. NIU's Friday performance was highlighted by its Flight B Doubles team of Haley Dekkinga and Nelle Youel, who advanced to the finals.

"Haley and Nelle looked good and played tough," said NIU head coach Ryun Ferrell. "I was proud of them."

Three weeks ago at the Huskie Invite, Dekkinga and Youel won a doubles title. Continuing their strong fall performance, the duo took down Ball State's Rang and Bouleris 8-5 to move on to the Flight B Doubles finals. Facing Bowling Green's Eccleston and Chiricosta, the Huskie pair went down in a hard-fought 8-4 match.

"We are a young team right now; everyone is coachable and playing hard and working hard," Ferrell said. "We are going to get better as we go. Our league is legit with tough, deep teams. Everyone is good. We are going to clean up our play and have a better day tomorrow."

The Huskies will complete their weekend at Western Michigan tomorrow with matches beginning at 8:00 a.m. CT.

Complete NIU Results
Flight A Doubles
Emily Rogers / Sara McLaughlin lost to April Kerr / Rachel Denny (WMU) - 8-4

Flight A Singles
Sara McLaughlin lost to Courtney Wild (BSU) - 6-3, 6-2
Emily Rogers lost to Mariya Toncheva (EMU) - 6-2, 6-4

Flight B Doubles
Haley Dekkinga / Nelle Youel defeated Ashlyn Rang / Dena Bouleris (BSU) - 8-5
Haley Dekkinga / Nelle Youel lost to Mandy Eccleston / Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) - 8-4

Flight B Singles
Haley Dekkinga lost to Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) - 6-2, 6-2

Flight C Singles
Nelle Youel lost to April Kerr (WMU) - 6-4, 6-0
Mary Malkin lost to Silvia Carvajal (UT) - 6-4, 6-4

Flight D Doubles
Mary Malkin / Ilse Pacheco lost to Silvia Carvajal / Amanda Border (UT) - 8-3
Mary Malkin / Ilse Pacheco lost to Katie Grubb / Mary Hill (BGSU) - 8-0

Flight D Singles
Arantza De La Torre lost to Marcela Rivero (EMU) - 6-3, 6-0

Flight E Singles
Ilse Pacheco lost to Katie Grubb - 6-2, 6-1

Additional Doubles Match
Arantza De La Torre (NIU) / Marcela Rivero (EMU) lost to Jade Johnson / Paola Rodriguez (BSU) - 9-8