Women's Tennis | May 14

DeKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois University women's tennis head coach Eric Burns on Wednesday announced the signing of Malika Kabdesh, a seasoned junior player from Valencia, Spain, for 2025-26.
 
"We are really excited about signing Malika," Burns said. "She has some very good wins and close losses against top players recently. In evaluating her game, [assistant coach] Cassie [Alcala] and I both felt the best is yet to come with her tennis.
 
"Malika has a lot of versatility with her style of play that can help her adapt to different opponents and that is always a positive at this level. In the classroom, she is an excellent student and is pushing herself by working toward an engineering degree. I believe she will be a great addition to the program to help us keep our momentum going and keep building."
 
Kabdesh has achieved a Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) as high as 8.85 and recorded some of her best results over the last two years. She reached the quarterfinals of five ITF events – at Villena, Telavi (twice), Lleida and Majadahonda, and advanced through the qualifying draws at ITF J60 La Nucia and J100 Alicante.
 
In Spain, she won the Marca U16 singles and W15 Prequalifier and was a finalist at the Trofeo Internacional de la Magdalena event. Kabdesh played in the semifinals of IBP open tournaments at Benicarlo and Silla.
 
Kabdesh joins countrywoman Rebeca Garcia Miralles (Calle Alicante, Spain/SOS Baynat), the No. 70 ranked player in Spain, and Sophia Shlyakhta (Vernon Hills, Ill./Stevenson HS), a three-star recruit with multiple All-State honors, in the Huskies' 2025-26 signing class.
 
The Huskies will have five players from Spain on next year's roster as Kabdesh and Garcia Miralles will join 2025 All-MAC players Nataly Ninova (Palma de Mallorca) and Lucia Yecora (Seville), and junior Isabella Righi (Palma de Mallorca), at NIU.
 
NIU wrapped up a historic 2024-25 season at the NIT Championships, the first national postseason tournament in school history. The Huskies won a school record 22 matches, claimed the Mid-American Conference West Division crown for the first time in school history, and played in the MAC Championship match for the first time during the 2025 spring dual match season.
 
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