DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team suffered a 4-3 setback to in-state foe Illinois State when it stepped out of conference for a midweek match at Chick Evens Field House on Tuesday.
 
"I thought we battled hard in this match," NIU head coach Eric Burns said. "It wasn't one of our best matches. We've definitely had better days and we really struggled at times today. We got off to some really slow starts, but I was happy with the way we fought back in several matches. We just dug too big of a hole today, especially in the doubles."
 
The doubles point proved to be the difference in the contest as the Redbirds won the point by taking two of the three doubles matches.
 
NIU (8-8, 2-2) split the six singles matches, with Diana Lukyanova winning her 13th straight match with a 6-1, 6-2 decision at No. 3 singles. Maria Potsi was pushed at No. 1 singles, but prevailed with a 6-4, 6-2 straight set win. After dropping the first set, Paula Veyhle won the next two sets, 7-5, 10-7, to take the match at No. 6 singles and cap the Huskie singles' wins on the day.
 
"It's tough to play your best every time out so you have to be able to compete even when you may not feel at your best," Burns said. "I thought we did that, but just came up a little short. Illinois State is a quality team that will challenge for the Missouri Valley conference so for us to be a little off but still find ourselves in a tight match is a good sign for us and the direction we are going with our team."
 
NIU returns to the court Friday with a doubleheader. The Huskies face Mid-American Conference foe Miami at 1 p.m. before returning to campus to face Northern Iowa at Chick Evans Field House. That match starts at 6 p.m. CT.
 
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