Women's Tennis | January 12

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team prepared for the spring dual match season by taking on Top 50 teams Colorado, Notre Dame and Northwestern over the weekend at the Northwestern Invitational in Evanston. Individuals and doubles pairs matched up in a "hidden dual" format with no team scores recorded.
 
NIU head coach Eric Burns was pleased with the way the Huskies competed, especially with three of NIU's top players, including senior Erika Dimitriev, sidelined.
 
"We competed really hard and played pretty well against some top competition," Burns said. "With only four practices coming off of break, this tournament was our warm-up, our practice, for the dual match season. We practiced by playing real competition and it sets us up great for next week. For us to get those matches under our belt, shake off the rust and the nerves that come with the first match of the year, and play as well as we did was definitely a positive."
 
Two Huskies recorded singles wins over their "power" opponents during the weekend. On Saturday, junior Jenna Horne (Glenview, Ill. / Glenbrook South HS) scored a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Notre Dame's Bianca Molnar and on Sunday, senior transfer Maria Dzemeshkevich (Moscow, Russia / Moscow State School #1101/Houston) defeated Northwestern's Mika Dagan Fruchtman (NU) 6-3, 6-7 (2), 10-7 at the No. 1 singles spot.
 
NIU's best overall match was Saturday versus Notre Dame. In addition to Horne's win, the Huskie doubles teams of Nataly Ninova/Dzemeshkevich and Reagan Welch/Lucia Yecora both took their matches to tiebreakers before falling, while Welch and Yecora had a match point. In singles, both Dzemeshkevich and Ninova went to three sets at the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively. Dzemeshkevich lost to Bojana Pozder, 6-3 2-6, 6-0; Ninova dropped a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-2 match to Carrie Beckman
 
"We built off of Friday and we came out firing in the doubles [versus Notre Dame]," Burns said. "The team was very focused all weekend and we played a good, solid match across the board Saturday which was good to see. [Sunday] versus Northwestern, I thought we would be tired after how hard we had to work all weekend, but we got it going and battled."
 
NIU opens its team dual match season next weekend as the Huskies travel south for three matches. On Friday, January 17, NIU will face Lindenwood at 1:30 p.m. and Saint Louis at 8 p.m. in O'Fallon, Illinois. Sunday, January 19, the Huskies play at Missouri at 3 p.m.  
 
NIU vs Colorado – Friday, January 10
 
Singles
1. Aya El Sayed (CU) def. Nataly Ninova (NIU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
2. Betina Tokac (CU) def. Lucia Yecora (NIU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Maria Dzemeshkevich (NIU) 6-0, 6-3
4. Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Irmak Budak (NIU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Pia Rebec (CU) def. Reagan Welch (NIU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Lera Alexin (CU) def. Jenna Horne (NIU) 6-4, 6-2
7. Rixt Van Der Werff (CU) def. Sydney Paradise (NIU) 6-1, 6-2
 
Doubles
1. Bubalo/Nelson (CU) def. Ninova/Dzemeshkevich (NIU) 6-3
2. El Sayed/Stanojevic (CU) def. Welch/Yecora (NIU) 6-2
3. Rebec/Alexin (CU) def. Budak/Horne (NIU) 6-2
 

---

NIU vs Notre Dame – Saturday, January 11
 
Singles
1. Bojana Pozder (ND) def. Maria Dzemeshkevich (NIU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-0
2. Carrie Beckman (ND) def. Nataly Ninova (NIU) 6-2, 6-7(3) 6-2
3. Nibi Ghosh (ND) def. Irmak Budak (NIU) 7-5, 6-3
4. #67 Akari Matsuno (ND) def Lucia Yecora (NIU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Jenna Horne (NIU) def. Bianca Molnar (ND) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Rylie Hanford (ND) def. Reagan Welch (NIU) 6-3, 6-1
7. Kate Bellia (ND) def. Sydney Paradise (NIU) 6-1, 6-4
 
Doubles
1. Beckman/Pozder (ND) def. Ninova/Dzemeshkevich (NIU) 7-6 (6)
2. Matsuno/Molnar (ND) def. Welch/Yecora (NIU) 7-6 (3)
3. Ghosh/Hanford (ND) def. Budak/Horne (NIU) 6-2
 

---

 
NIU vs Northwestern – Sunday, January 12
 
Singles
1. Maria Dzemeshkevich (NIU) def. Mika Dagan Fruchtman (NU) 6-3, 6-7 (2), 10-7
2. Autumn Rabjohns (NU) def. Nataly Ninova (NIU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
3. Britany Lau (NU) def. Irmak Budak (NIU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Sydney Pratt (NU) def. Lucia Yecora (NIU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Neena Feldman (NU) def. Jenna Horne (NIU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Erica Jessel (NU) def. Reagan Welch (NIU) 6-0, 6-1
7. Maia Loureiro (NU) def. Sydney Paradise (NIU) 7-5, 6-0
 
Doubles
1. Jessel/Pratt (NU) def. Ninova/Dzemeshkevich (NIU) 6-1
2. Katya Shepherd/Lau (NU) def. Welch/Yecora (NIU) 6-3
3. Loureiro/Feldman (NU) def. Paradise/Horne (NIU) 6-3
 
-- NIU --
 
Twitter: @NIUAthletics
Facebook: NIU Huskies
Instagram: niuhuskies
YouTube: NIU Athletics Official