DeKALB, Ill. – Cristina Alvarez became the 13th player in school history to earn the 100th combined victory of her collegiate career as the senior Spaniard led the Northern Illinois University women’s tennis team to a narrow victory on Saturday afternoon at Milwaukee.

Alvarez (Zaragoza, Spain/Cristorey and Sagrado Corazon de Jesus) finished the match for the Huskies (3-3) by winning her No. 2 singles contest against Hayley Marshall of Milwaukee, 6-4, 6-4, lifting NIU to a 4-3 team victory over the Panthers (3-4) on the road.

NIU women’s tennis coach Tanya Gombera praised Alvarez and the rest of the Huskies, who overcame a deficit against the Panthers after being swept in the three doubles contests.

“It was a great team effort today. We started slowly in doubles, but we were able to pick up and improve our performances in the singles matches,” Gombera said after NIU won four singles matches to record the narrow team victory. “Also, I have to give huge congratulations to Cristina for her 100th win, which was even more special because it clinched a win for us.”

Alvarez now owns 61 singles wins and 39 doubles victories in her four-year collegiate career at NIU, with her singles total ranking seventh in program history.

Adey Osabuohien (Hazel Crest, Ill./Stony Brook) at No. 1, Abigail Dekkinga (Allegan, Mich./Allegan) at No. 5 and Evelyn Youel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) at No. 6 picked up the other crucial singles wins for the Huskies on Saturday – all in straight sets.

For the Huskies, the triumph also marked the team’s first true road win of the season and was the second straight win for NIU over Milwaukee.

The NIU women’s tennis team returns to the courts with another road matchup next Saturday when the Huskies travel to the city to face Chicago State at 2:30 p.m.

NIU 4, Milwaukee 3
Singles
No. 1: Adey Osabuohien (NIU) def. Labina Petrovska (Milwaukee), 6-4, 6-1
No. 2: Cristina Alvarez (NIU) def. Hayley Marshall (Milwaukee), 6-4, 6-4
No. 3: Laurie Clark (Milwaukee) def. Michelle Erasmus (NIU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 4: Alysa Straub (Milwaukee) def. Meghan Montgomerie (NIU), 6-1, 6-0
No. 5: Abigail Dekkinga (NIU) def. Dana Shannon (NIU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 6: Evelyn Youel (NIU) def. Aerielle Pendleton (Milwaukee), 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
No. 1: Clark and Straub (Milwaukee) def. Osabuohien and Alvarez (NIU), 6-3
No. 2: Marshall and Petrovska (Milwaukee) def. Erasmus and Montgomerie (NIU), 6-2
No. 3: Shannon and Laranova (Milwaukee) def. Youel and Dekkinga (NIU), 6-2

--NIU--