DeKALB, Illinois – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team split a pair of matches Saturday at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House with a dominating win over Northern Iowa, 6-1, after dropping a tight 4-3 decision to Valparaiso earlier in the day.
After winning the doubles point handily versus UNI with 6-1 and 6-0 victories at No. 1 and 2 doubles, respectively, the Huskies won four of five singles matches in straight sets.
Erika Dimitriev,
Anastasia Rakita and
Diana Lukyanova earned wins at the top three singles spots to clinch the win for NIU. With the win, NIU improved to 4-5 on the season.
"It was good to come back after a tough 4-3 loss, kind of regroup and play the way we know we're capable of playing," said head coach Eric Burns. "The doubles got off to a good start, we played very dominant, aggressive doubles. We were glad to see that happen in the second match and then carry that over into the singles. We played loose and free and that was something we struggled with in the first match."
Earlier in the day, the Huskies dropped a tight decision to the Beacons. NIU fell behind 1-0 after doubles when Moira Silva and Olivia Czerwonka of Valpo defeated the Huskies No. 1 duo of Dimitriev and Rakita in a tiebreaker to claim the point for VU. NIU's No. 2 pair of
Reagan Welch and Nataly Ninova won their doubles match, 6-3.
Down 1-0, NIU needed to win four of the six singles matches to win the match. Dimitriev and Lukyanova won their matches at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead. Valpo tied it with a win at No. 4 singles and the Beacons' went ahead 3-2 when Czerwonka earned a three-set lead over Rakita, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Ninova tied the match for the Huskies with a 6-1, 6-3 win. The No. 6 singles match went to three sets, but Eleanor Chapman was able to hold off NIU freshman
Isabella Righi to give the Beacons the 4-3 win.
"We didn't execute in the tight situations in the early match," Burns said. "We played very tight, and you can't do that against a good team like Valpo, hats off to them. They were very mentally tough.
We hopefully will learn from this one. I think the more you go through these situations, the better equipped we'll be in the future."
The Huskies play four matches next week, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 15 at Illinois State. NIU will take on Bradley at home on Friday, Feb. 17 and face both Western Illinois and Cardinal Stritch at the Nelson Tennis Center on Saturday, Feb. 18.
Valparaiso 4, NIU 3
02/11/2023 at DeKalb, Ill. (Chick Evans Field House)
SINGLES
1. Czerwonka, Olivia (VALPO) def.
Anastasia Rakita (NIU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
2.
Erika Dimitriev (NIU) def. Silva, Moira (VALPO) 6-2, 6-2
3.
Diana Lukyanova (NIU) def. Jhaveri, Demi (VALPO) 6-2, 6-2
4. Tabanera, Amanda (VALPO) def.
Reagan Welch (NIU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Nataly Ninova (NIU) def. Bertino, Mia (VALPO) 6-1, 6-3
6. Chapman, Eleanor (VALPO) def.
Isabella Righi (NIU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-1
DOUBLES
1. Silva, Moira/Czerwonka, Olivia (VALPO) def.
Erika Dimitriev/
Anastasia Rakita (NIU) 7-6 (7-1)
2.
Reagan Welch/Nataly Ninova (NIU) def. Tabanera, Amanda/Sobieski, Elizabeth (VALPO) 6-3
3. Jhaveri, Demi/Chapman, Eleanor (VALPO) def.
Jenna Horne/
Isabella Righi (NIU) 6-1
NIU 6, Northern Iowa 1
02/11/2023 at DeKalb, Ill. (Chick Evans Field House)
SINGLES
1.
Erika Dimitriev (NIU) def. Darta Dalecka (UNI) 6-2, 6-0
2.
Anastasia Rakita (NIU) def. Andrijana Brkic (UNI) 6-1, 6-2
3.
Diana Lukyanova (NIU) def. Kim Zizek (UNI) 6-0, 6-3
4. Thaissa Moreira (UNI) def.
Reagan Welch (NIU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Nataly Ninova (NIU) def. Issa Sullivan (UNI) 5-0, retired
6.
Jenna Horne (NIU) def. Lasya Mylavarapu (UNI) 6-4, 6-0
DOUBLES
1.
Erika Dimitriev/
Anastasia Rakita (NIU) def. Lorena Cardoso/Darta Dalecka (UNI) 6-1
2. Nataly Ninova/
Reagan Welch (NIU) def. Andrijana Brkic/Kim Zizek (UNI) 6-0
3.
Jenna Horne/
Isabella Righi (NIU) vs. Thaissa Moreira/Issa Sullivan (UNI) 4-2, unfinished
-- NIU --
Twitter: @NIUAthletics
Facebook: NIU Huskies
Instagram: niuhuskies
YouTube: NIU Athletics
