TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | ESPN3
DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University Women's Tennis team earned the No. 5 seed in the 2017 Mid-American Conference Women's Tennis Championships and will face No. 4 Miami in Muncie, Ind. Friday.
"The team is excited and very motivated," said NIU head coach
Tanya Mahefu. "We played Miami earlier this year and lost, 6-1, but the score doesn't reflect how close that match was. So, we're excited to play Miami.
"I do believe we have a team that can win this title and that's the mindset we're going in with. We've been working hard for this moment and the girls are just excited and getting themselves ready for it."
NIU (10-12, 4-4) will take on the RedHawks (10-11, 5-3) at 9 a.m. Central Time at Ball State's Cardinal Creek Tennis Center. This is the Huskies first appearance in the six-team format MAC Championship, which was enacted in 2013, and the first for NIU since 2012.
"We have a lot of confidence," Mahefu said. "We've won at home and away. We're very good at doubles play. It's going to be a factor against Miami. It's one of those matches that we lost a heartbreaking doubles point. We've learned from that experience and the girls are excited to play this weekend."
The Huskies enter Friday's match on a modest two-match winning streak, defeating Bowling Green last week and Western Michigan April 14. First-team All-MAC selections senior Adey Osabouhein (Hazel Crest, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) and freshman
Raven Neely (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Grosse Point South) have paced the Huskies all season long.
In addition to being NIU's No. 1 doubles team with a 13-2 record, Osabouhein and Neely play Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. Neely boasts a team-best 17-5 record in dual match record, including a 10-2 mark at No. 2 singles, while Osabouhein has tallied an 11-5 mark, all at No. 1 singles.
Miami won the only meeting between the two teams this season. The RedHawks scored a 6-1 victory at the Miami Tennis Courts back on March 24. The Huskies lost the doubles point as
Pauline Chawafambira (Mutare, Zimbabwe) and
Evelyn Youel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) were edged out, 7-6, at No. 2 doubles. Chawafambira pushed her foe to a third set at No. 3 singles, but fell in the final set, 12-10.
Fans can watch the 2017 MAC Women's Tennis Championships live on ESPN3. The winner of the Miami-NIU match will face regular season champion Ball State Saturday.
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