Women's Tennis | April 30

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team will add another chapter to its historic 2024-25 season as the Huskies are one of just eight teams invited to play in the UTR Sports NIT Championship from May 7-9, 2025 at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College. NIU will take on Washington State, who finished the regular season ranked 54th in the ITA Rankings, on Wednesday, May 7 in a quarterfinal match-up. 
 
The Huskies will play in a national post-season tournament for the first time in school history. The single elimination team tournament field also includes Charlotte, Appalachian State, Middle Tennessee State, North Alabama, North Texas and Saint Mary's. The winner of the NIU-Washington State match will advance to Thursday's semifinals versus either Appalachian State or North Texas. 
 
"This is a great opportunity for our team, and they really deserve it," said NIU head coach Eric Burns, who will complete his sixth season at the helm of the Huskie program in Rome. "They've had an unbelievable season with a 22-7 record and a second-place finish in the MAC. We're excited to go and see what we can do in a postseason environment.
 
"It's a great field with two teams in Charlotte and Washington State ranked in the Top 75 in the ITA rankings and others knocking on the door. We don't see a lot of these teams during the regular season, so we'll get to see teams from different parts of the country, play in an unbelievable facility and be treated to a first-class experience."
 
The Huskies broke the 40-year-old school record for dual match wins and enter the UTR Sports NIT Championship at 22-7 on the season. NIU claimed the West Division title of the Mid-American Conference and earned the No. 2 seed, its highest ever, at the MAC Tournament.
 
Three NIU players – senior Maria Dzemeshkevich, junior Nataly Ninova and freshman Lucia Yecora – were named All-MAC with Dzemeshkevich selected to the first team, becoming the Huskies' first first-team all-conference player since 2017.
 
Ninova has won 32 singles matches in 2024-25, and is 23-4 in dual matches, as she broke the school record for singles wins in a season. Yecora lost just twice in 21 completed dual matches this spring while playing No. 3 and 4 singles.
 
In addition to the all-conference honorees, the NIU line-up includes freshman Irmak Budak, junior Isabella Righi and a rotation of junior Jenna Horne and freshman Theodora Kousiou at No. 6 singles.
 
Horne and senior Reagan Welch have formed the Huskies' most consistent doubles team as the pair are 15-5 on the season.
 
"A season like this and getting to finish with a postseason tournament raises our expectations [for the program]," Burns said. "It's not enough now to go and compete in the MAC [Tournament]. We want to win the conference and get into postseason tournaments. That's becoming the standard. This year has raised the bar, which is a great step and a positive step for our program. We're going to go down and try to compete as hard as we can."
 
Matches from the UTR Sports NIT Championships will be available to view on PlaySight with live scores on iOnCourt with links available next week. Follow coverage on NIUHuskies.com and on the NIU women's tennis social media platforms: X – NIUwomenstennis, Instagram – niuwtennis and Facebook – NIU Huskie Women's Tennis.
 
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