Women's Tennis | January 20

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's team opened its spring dual match season Saturday at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House, dropping a 7-0 decision to No. 25 Wisconsin.
 
NIU's top performances on the day came at the lower end of the Huskie line-up. After losing the first set at No. 4 singles 6-0, NIU sophomore Isabella Righi came back to force a second set tiebreaker, which UW's Ariel Johnson won 8-6 to claim the match.
 
At No. 5 singles, the Huskies' Reagan Welch won nine games over Wisconsin's Ellison Reynoldson, eventually dropping a 7-5, 6-4 decision. Meanwhile at No. 6 singles, sophomore Jenna Horne battled Rosie Garcia Gross before falling 6-2, 6-3.
 
"In singles, I thought we did a nice job of fighting back in the matches and those matches at 4-5 and 6 were really competitive," said NIU head coach Eric Burns. "We kept fighting and that was a good sign for today.  We did a nice job of hanging in there and fighting back and saw some individual growth in some areas. Starting off the season with the best team on our schedule is a tough task, but we did our best, we fought, and we have a chance to come back tomorrow and do it again."
 
The Badgers earned wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to take an early 1-0 lead and clinched the match with wins at No. 1, 2 and 3 singles.
 
NIU next takes on James Madison on Sunday at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House beginning at 10 a.m.  Click here to watch the action live.
 
#25 Wisconsin 7, NIU Huskies 0
DeKalb, Illinois (Nelson Tennis Center)
 
SINGLES
1.           #67 Maria Sholokhova (WIS) def. Erika Dimitriev (NIU-W) 6-0, 6-1
2.           Taylor Cataldi (WIS) def. Diana Lukyanova (NIU-W) 6-2, 6-0
3.           #87 Xinyu Cai (WIS) def. Nataly Ninova (NIU-W) 6-0, 6-1
4.           Ariel Johnson (WIS) def. Isabella Righi (NIU-W) 6-0, 7-6 (8-6)
5.           Ellison Reynoldson (WIS) def. Reagan Welch (NIU-W) 7-5, 6-4
6.           Rosie Garcia Gross (WIS) def. Jenna Horne (NIU-W) 6-2, 6-3
DOUBLES
1.           Erika Dimitriev/Nataly Ninova (NIU-W) vs. Xinyu Cai/Maria Sholokhova (WIS) 2-5, unfinished
2.           Alina Mukhortova/Ariel Johnson (WIS) def. Diana Lukyanova/Isabella Righi (NIU-W) 6-1
3.           Karolina Jacobson/Rosie Garcia Gross (WIS) def. Jenna Horne/Reagan Welch (NIU-W) 6-0
 
Match Notes:
Wisconsin 2-0; National ranking #25
NIU Huskies 0-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,3,2,4,6,5)
 
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