Women's Tennis | February 9

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team split a pair of matches Friday in Iowa, defeating Northern Iowa, 6-1, in Waterloo in a morning tilt before falling to Iowa in Iowa City, 5-2 Friday night.
 
The Huskies continued their impressive play in doubles, winning the doubles point in both matches on the day. NIU now has won the doubles point in five consecutive matches. Versus UNI, NIU's No. 2 and 3 duos of Diana Lukyanova/Isabella Righi and Reagan Welch/Jenna Horen did the honors, winning 6-3, and 6-4, respectively. 
 
Lukyanova and Righi went two-for-two on the day with a 6-4 win over Iowa's Daianne Hayashida/Marisa Schmidt. The Huskies' number one pairing of Erika Dimitriev and Nataly Ninova helped the Huskies secure the doubles point versus the Hawkeyes with a 6-1 win.
 
The Huskies claimed five straight set singles wins over the Panthers to earn their third win, and first road win, of the season.  At No. 3 singles, Ninova took the second set tiebreaker over UNI's Lorena Cardoso, 7-4, to close out a 6-4, 7-6 victory. 
 
In the evening match at Iowa, the Huskies' Reagan Welch scored NIU's second point with a 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 win as all six NIU players earned at least one singles win on the day.
 
The Huskies are 3-3 on the season after the split as they head to Chicago for a Sunday morning dual versus DePaul.  Iowa improved to 3-5 on the year, while UNI dropped to 0-4.
 
Northern Iowa 0-4
 
NIU Huskies 6, Northern Iowa 1
Waterloo, Iowa – Black Hawk Tennis Center
 
Singles
1. Diana Lukyanova (NIU-W) def. Andrijana Brkic (UNI) 6-4, 6-1
2. Erika Dimitriev (NIU-W) def. Darta Dalecka (UNI) 6-4, 6-3
3. Nataly Ninova (NIU-W) def. Lorena Cardoso (UNI) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
4. Kim Zizek (UNI) def. Reagan Welch (NIU-W) 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 1-0 (10-6)
5. Isabella Righi (NIU-W) def. Kanyanut Sudsaard (UNI) 6-2, 6-1
6. Jenna Horne (NIU-W) def. Issa Sullivan (UNI) 6-3, 6-2
 
Doubles
1. Lorena Cardoso/Darta Dalecka (UNI) def. Erika Dimitriev/Nataly Ninova (NIU-W) 6-3
2. Diana Lukyanova/Isabella Righi (NIU-W) def. Andrijana Brkic/Kim Zizek (UNI) 6-3
3. Reagan Welch/Jenna Horne (NIU-W) def. Issa Sullivan/Kanyanut Sudsaard (UNI) 6-4
 
 
Iowa 5, NIU  2
Iowa City, Iowa – Hawkey Tennis and Recreational Complex
 
Singles
1. #85 Daianne Hayashida (UI) def. Erika Dimitriev (NIU): 6-0, 6-1
2. Marisa Schmidt (UI) def. Diana Lukyanova (NIU): 6-1, 6-0
3. Chelsea Bluestein (UI) def. Nataly Ninova (NIU): 6-3, 6-4
4. Barbora Pokorna (UI) def. Isabella Righi (NIU): 6-0, 6-1
5. Reagan Welch (NIU) def. Pia Kranholdt (UI): 6-4, 2-6, 1-0
6. Vipasha Mehra (UI) def. Jenna Horne (NIU): 6-4, 6-0
 
Doubles
1. Erika Dimitriev/Nataly Ninova (NIU) def. Chelsea Bluestein/Vipasha Mehra (UI): 6-1
2. Diana Lukyanova/Isabella Righi (NIU) def. Daianne Hayashida/Marisa Schmidt (UI): 6-4
3. Barbora Pokorna/ Pia Kranholdt (UI) def. Reagan Welch/Jenna Horne (NIU): 6-1
 
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