Women's Tennis | March 20

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team opened its Mid-American Conference dual match season by dropping a closely contested 4-3 match to Bowling Green Sunday afternoon at the DeKalb High School Tennis Courts. NIU came back later in the day to defeat Roosevelt University, 7-0, to earn a split of the day's matches.
 
In the early match, NIU fell behind 1-0 as Bowling Green claimed the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. The No. 2 doubles match went to a tiebreaker after each team failed to convert on match points earlier in the set. In the end, the Falcons' duo of Ionna Tsadari and Laura Maia Silveira earned the win over NIU's Diana Lukyanova and Reagan Welch, 7-6.
 
"We had three match points to get the doubles point and didn't get it and that ended up being the deciding point, so overall it was pretty disappointing," said NIU head coach Eric Burns. "The story of the day was we could not close out any leads when we got them, and I thought we played very tight. I don't know if it was because it was the first conference match, but BG was much better on big points today than we were and that was pretty much the deciding factor in the match." 
 
In singles play, NIU got wins at No. 3, 4 and 5 singles from Anastasia Rakita, Reagan Welch and Angelica Ross, respectively. Rakita and Ross won in straight sets, while Welch came back after dropping the first set to earn a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win.  At No. 1 and No. 2 singles, Huskies Lukyanova and Erika Dimitriev each dropped first set tiebreakers before falling in two sets.
 
"Nastia [Rakita] had a really nice win," Burns said. "Reagan had a nice comeback in her match to get the win and Angelica played well, so those three had some nice singles wins today. Then, it was productive for us to give some people some chances to play versus Roosevelt and they performed well."
 
Burns used the late match to provide more match experience for players who aren't regularly part of the doubles and singles starting line-up.  Ross, who played No. 5 singles versus Bowling Green, won at the No. 1 singles position, while Fernanda Naves, Iulia Dmitrieva and Paula Veyhle earned straight set wins in the No. 2 through 4 spots. Veyhle scored a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 4 and also teamed with Josefina Trella for 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles.
 
Roosevelt had just four players available and was forced to forfeit the No. 3 doubles and No. 5 and 6 singles matches.  
 
NIU (12-6, 0-1 MAC) plays three matches on the road next weekend as the Huskies take on Toledo on Friday, March 25 and Buffalo on Sunday, March 27 in conference play and will also match up against Binghamton on Sunday in Buffalo.  
 
Bowling Green 4, NIU 3
March 20, 2022 at DeKalb, Illinois
(DeKalb High School)
 
Singles
1. Ionna Tsadari (BGSU) def. Diana Lukyanova (NIU) 7-6, 6-1
2. Selina Karg (BGSU) def. Erika Dimitriev (NIU) 7-6, 7-5
3. Anastasia Rakita (NIU) def. Annika Vetter (BGSU) 6-4, 7-6
4. Reagan Welch (NIU) def. Maru Poppe (BGSU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
5. Angelica Ross (NIU) def. Laura Maia Silveira (BGSU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Hannah Neuman (BGSU) def. Christy Robinson (NIU) 6-0, 6-2
 
Doubles
1. Erika Dimitriev/Anastasia Rakita (NIU) def. Selina Karg/Hannah Neuman (BGSU) 6-4
2. Ionna Tsadari/Laura Maia Silveira (BGSU) def. Diana Lukyanova/Reagan Welch (NIU) 7-6
3. Maru Poppe/Annika Vetter (BGSU) def. Fernanda Naves/Christy Robinson (NIU) 6-4
 
NIU 7, Roosevelt 0
March 20, 2022 at DeKalb, Illinois
(DeKalb High School)
 
Singles
1. Angelica Ross (NIU) def. Maria Rivas (RU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Fernanda Naves (NIU) def. Fabiola Rivas (RU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Iuliia Dmitrieva (NIU) def. Grace Hahn (RU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Paula Veyhle (NIU) def. Kyla Eaton (RU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Josefina Trella (NIU) def. No player (RU), by forfeit
6. Christy Robinson (NIU) def. No player (RU), by forfeit
 
Doubles
1. Iuliia Dmitrieva/Angelica Ross (NIU) def. Maria Rivas/Fabiola Rivas (RU) 6-4
2. Paula Veyhle/Josefina Trella (NIU) def. Kyla Eaton/Grace Hahn (RU) 6-2
 
-- NIU --