DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women’s tennis team was edged 4-3 by Eastern Michigan on a sunny Sunday afternoon Senior Day in the Mid-American Conference regular season finale for both teams at the NIU Tennis Courts in DeKalb.

The Huskies (6-14, 1-7 MAC) split the six singles matches with the Eagles (5-16, 2-6 MAC) but were on the wrong end of the doubles point, which lifted EMU to the road victory as both teams finished out the 2016 spring season.

After what was the final match in the career of NIU senior Cristina Alvarez (Zaragoza, Spain/Cristorey and Sagrado Corazon de Jesus), NIU women’s tennis head coach Tanya Gombera praised Alvarez and noted that the program continues to make progress because of players like the senior Spaniard.

“We honored Cristina today for her Senior Day at the end of her tremendous career. She really has been a role model to the rest of our team with the way she excelled in all facets of the student-athlete experience,” Gombera said. “We lost a tough match today as a team to close the season, but it was great to see so many fans and supporters out for our final home match of the year.”

Alvarez finished her collegiate career after four quality seasons as a Huskie as one of just 13 players to win 100 matches in NIU women’s tennis history, ranking fifth in singles wins (64) and 11th in combined victories (107). She also owns one of the top grade-point averages on the team in pursuit of her electrical engineering degree.

In the match against the Eagles on Sunday, NIU’s Adey Osabuohien (Hazel Crest, Ill./Stony Brook) closed her remarkable 2016 spring season with one more impressive victory, battling from an early deficit to defeat Eastern Michigan’s No. 1 singles player Klara Supejova, 7-5, 6-2. Osabuohien trailed 5-1 in the first set before rattling off six straight game wins to clinch the first set, which propelled her to an easier second-set win. The junior finished with a record of 16-3 (6-1 MAC) in singles in the spring 2016 season.

Also winning singles matches for the Huskies were Michelle Erasmus (Johannesburg, South Africa/Cal State Fullerton) and Meghan Montgomerie (Irvin, Scotland/Beaconhurst), who each took the first set and held on for victories after dropping the second set to finish the season with solid individual triumphs.

Eastern Michigan 4, NIU 3
Singles
No. 1: Adey Osabuohien (NIU) def. Klara Supejova (EMU), 7-5, 6-2
No. 2: Andrea Martinovska (EMU) def. Cristina Alvarez (NIU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3: Ani Gogvadze (EMU) def. Abigail Dekkinga (NIU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4: Michelle Erasmus (NIU) def. Anna Veleva (EMU), 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
No. 5: Marie Mayerova (EMU) def. Evelyn Youel (NIU), 6-2, 6-4
No. 6: Meghan Montgomerie (NIU) def. Alejandra Barcelo (EMU), 7-5, 3-6 (10-3)

Doubles
No. 1: Supejova/Martinovska (EMU) def. Osabuohien/Youel (NIU), 6-3
No. 2: Gogvadze/Mayerova (EMU) def. Dekkinga/Erasmus (NIU), 7-5
No. 3: Veleva/Renu Sharma (EMU) def. Alvarez/Montgomerie (NIU), 6-4

--NIU--