DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team split a pair of matches at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House Saturday, defeating Bradley 7-0 before dropping a 6-1 decision to Cornell. The loss ended NIU's six-match winning streak dating back to February 8.
"We competed very well and I was really proud of the way we played and fought, especially in that second match," said NIU head coach
Eric Burns. "Cornell is a very good team, and we knew this would be a tough match with them. I thought we had some chances, but it wasn't our day on some of those bigger points.":
The Huskies opened the day with a 7-0 win over Bradley to record their sixth straight win.
Isabella Righi and
Lucia Yecora scored a 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles to give NIU the doubles point as the Braves forfeited at the third line.
NIU started singles up 2-0 with a forfeit at the No. 6 spot. Yecora made quick work of Compassion Tsai of Bradley at No. 4 singles and after winning the first set in a tiebreaker, fellow freshman
Irmak Budak took the second set 6-0 at No. 1 singles to clinch the Huskies' win. Singles wins by
Nataly Ninova,
Maria Dzemeshkevich and
Theodora Kousiou completed the NIU sweep.
In the afternoon match, the teams split at No. 1 and No. 2 with Righi and Yecora earning a 6-4 win over Jenny Wong and Emma Baker for the Huskies. On the third line, the Huskie team of
Reagan Welch and
Jenna Horne fell behind 5-1 before storming back to tie the set at 5-5 but the Cornell duo won the next two games as the Big Red took the doubles point.
Cornell picked up wins at No. 3 and No. 1 singles before Budak came back from dropping the first set to CU's Victoria Zhao to win the next two and put a point on the board for NIU. Freshman
Theodora Kousiou took Wong to a tiebreaker in the first set at No. 5 before losing.
At No. 4 singles, Yecora and Baker battled for three hours. Yecora won the first set 7-5; Baker took the second set by the same score. The third set went to a tiebreaker which Baker won 7-4, handing Yecora her first singles loss of the season.
"Our freshman are playing great," Burns said. "They're only going to get better with time and more matches. It's encouraging for the rest of the year and for the future of the program."
The Huskies (11-3) return to action Wednesday at Marquette in Milwaukee with Mid-American Conference play set to begin on Sunday, March 16 versus Eastern Michigan.
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