DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team opens the fall portion of the 2018-19 campaign when it plays host to the Huskie Invite starting Friday.
 
The two-day tournament begins Friday at 9 a.m. and will feature in-state foe Bradley, Green-Bay and Nebraska-Omaha. The tournament wraps up Saturday with matches set to begin at 8 a.m. The Huskie Invite will take place at the West Tennis Courts. In the event of rain, the tournament will be moved to the Vaughn Center in Aurora.
 
"We've got a brand new team this year with five new players and four returners," said NIU head coach Tanya Mahefu. "It's going to be exciting to see the new girls come in and compete and see what they can do for us as a team. We've had two weeks of good practice here."
 
Junior Brodie Walker (Bristol, England/Bristol Grammar School) and sophomore Maria Potsi (Athens, Greece/1st Gel Cholargou) are the top returners for the Huskies. Walker led the way for the Huskies last season with a 13-8 mark playing predominantly at Nos. 5 & 6 singles, while Potsi was 7-13 competing primarily at No. 2 singles.
 
"Brodie's worked hard over the summer and she's excited to get out there and play," Mahefu said. "Her role on the team is to lead us. She's our captain this year. She has experience. I'm excited to see what she can do this year and build on that performance from last year.
 
"Maria led us last year playing at the top of the line up. I'm excited to see her have a great year."
 
Mahefu's main goal for her team this fall is to get as many matches under their belts before dual match play starts in January.
 
"Especially since we are a young team, the fall will be a great time for us to get a lot of matches and get match experience," she said. "Later on this fall we'll see a lot of MAC teams so we'll know what we're up against in March and April. The fall will help us benchmark ourselves against those teams."
 
-NIU-