Women's Tennis | April 30
DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team earned a bid to the UTR Sports NIT Championship in Rome, Ga., taking place from May 5-7. NIU received the No. 8 seed and will face No. 1 seed Kansas State in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, May 5 at 8 a.m. CT.
"We are very excited and honored to be invited to the NIT for a second consecutive year," said head coach
Eric Burns. "Our team overcame a lot this season to put together an excellent season, despite some struggles in conference play and not quite reaching our bigger goals. I am proud of the resilience this team showed at the end of the season with a couple of great wins to put us in this position to make the NIT and have one more experience together as a team. We will lay it all on the line and do everything we can to represent NIU and the MAC."
The Huskies are one of eight teams selected, qualifying for the second consecutive year following a 17-8 regular season. Other participants include Kansas State (1 seed), North Texas (2 seed), Arkansas State (3 seed), North Alabama (4 seed), US Military Academy – Army (5 seed), McNeese State (6 seed) and College of Charleston (7 seed).
"The NIT is a special event. Universal Tennis and Rome Tennis Center does an excellent job at hosting it and I appreciate all they are doing for college tennis by giving teams another opportunity for postseason play," said Burns. "I believe it is important to support this event to give our student-athletes additional chances to compete on a big stage."
Last season, NIU fell to 2025 NIT Champions Washington State in the quarterfinals after a historic 22-win season and Mid-American Conference West Division Title.
"We really enjoyed the experience a year ago and despite our losses at the event, we played very well against the eventual champion Washington State and it was a positive way to end our season. The facility at Rome is one of the best in the US, so it's a great venue for our team to play," said Burns.
NIU is coming off another successful season, including wins over Missouri of the Southeastern Conference and UIC, the Missouri Valley Conference undefeated regular season champions. The Huskies have won 55 matches (.671 winning percentage) over the last three seasons, the most successful three-year stretch in program history.
Sophomores
Irmak Budak and
Lucia Yecora closed the regular season on the right foot, each winning their final three conference matches in singles play. Senior
Nataly Ninova also won her last three singles matches and is 7-3 in the last 10 outings.
Both Budak and Ninova earned All-MAC Second Team honors, the league announced on Wednesday, April 22. NIU produced multiple All-MAC selections in consecutive seasons for only the second time in program history.
The Huskies won their final two matches of the season, defeating both Bowling Green and Ball State by score of 5-2. NIU captured the doubles point in three of the four final matches of the season, including against regular season champs UMass on March 29.
Kansas State enters the tournament winners of three of its last four matches and has a win over No. 53 Minnesota this season. Maralgoo Chogsomjav and Martaa Chogsomjav each earned all-conference honors for the Wildcats with the duo earning All-Big 12 First Team Doubles and Martaa earning All-Big 12 Freshman Team.
"We are excited to play Kansas State in the first round. They are a solid team from Big 12 and if you are going to a postseason tournament like this you want to play the best teams," said Burns. "That's really the fun of it, getting to play schools you might not otherwise get an opportunity to play. The team played well against all the Power 4s we competed against this season, including getting a win vs. Missouri. It is a great opportunity and we fully believe we can go in and compete with these teams."
