DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team opens its spring break trip with a match versus Horizon League foe Milwaukee at River Glen Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
The Huskies (6-5) are looking to bounce back from a 6-1 setback to UIC at home last weekend. NIU won last year's meeting with Milwaukee (3-6), 4-3, and NIU head coach Tanya Mahefu expects another challenging match this season.
 
"Milwaukee was a tough match for us last year," said Mahefu. "We narrowly won that match and I expect it to be another tough match again for us."
 
Freshman Raven Neely (Grosse Point, Mich./Grosse Point South) has played well for the Huskies having stepped up to the No. 1 single position the last two weeks. She defeated Georgie Sanders, 6-3, 6-2, of UIC last weekend after battling Marquette's Silvia Ambrosio, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, two weeks ago.
 
"I think she's really stepping up as a freshman and potentially as a leader on the team," Mahefu said of Neely. "I'm excited to see how she's going to do in conference. I think she's going to do well."
 
The Panthers have lost four of its last five matches, but is coming off a 5-1 win over Cardinal Stritch. NIU is 1-1 against Horizon league opponents, defeating Green Bay, 7-0, Feb. 3, 2017 and falling to UIC last weekend.
 
Following its match with the Panthers, the Huskies travel to Boca Raton, Florida for a pair of matches. NIU will face UConn on Tuesday, Mar. 14 at 1 p.m. and FAU on Wednesday, Mar. 15 at 9 a.m. All times listed are Central.
 
"Spring break will be great for us because we'll get to play outside," Mahefu said. "Some of our conference matches will be outside, so that's why we take the trip down to Florida to get used to playing outside. We're just excited for those matches."
 
- NIU -