Women's Tennis | September 25
Minneapolis, Minn. - The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team kicked off its fall calendar at the Gopher Invitational hosted by Minnesota this weekend. Teams competing competing in the invite include Drake, Marquette, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Northern Iowa, St. Thomas.
In total NIU went 14-6 and 18-4 in singles across the three-day invitational. Juniors
Theodora Kousiou (Thessaloniki, Greece / Aristotelio College) and
Lucia Yecora (Seville, Spain / IES V Centenario School) each went 7-1 overall on the weekend.
Day One
NIU came out of the gate strong going 7-1 in singles and 5-3 in doubles. Three freshmen recorded their first wins for the Huskies in
Paulina Masherava (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Vernon Hills),
Iben Storkaas (Asker, Norway / NTG-Norwegian College of Elite Sport) and
Natalia Varela Herrera (Guadalajara, Mexico / Prepanet - Tecnológico de Monterrey).
Storkaas downed Minnesota's Kamea Medora 7-5, 6-0, Varela Herrera defeated Natalia Castaneda Guerrero of UW-Milwaukee 6-3, 6-1 and Masherava bested Soneera Kavya of St. Thomas 6-0, 6-3.
Yecora recorded a 6-4, 6-3 over UNI's Lucia Schuknecht on Friday. Kousiou,
Rebeca Garcia Miralles (Castellón, Spain / IES Sos Baynat) and
Sophia Shlyakhta (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Stevenson) also recorded singles wins on Friday.
In doubles, all three freshmen also recorded wins. Yecora / Varela Herrera won 6-0 over Marquette, Masherava / Shlyakhta recorded a 6-1 victory against St. Thomas while Kousiou / Storkaas teamed up for a 6-4 win against UNI.
Irmak Budak / Garcia Miralles went 2-0 on the day, notching wins over Milwaukee and St. Thomas.
Day Two
NIU continued the strong play, going 6-1 in singles on Saturday. Kousiou recorded a comeback win over Anna Sidorenko of St. Thomas, winning 2-6, 6-4, 10-4. Masherava also recorded a three-set victory, winning 0-6, 7-6 (3), 10-7 over Marquette's Kate Thorne.
Garcia Miralles and Yecora won handily with Garcia Miralles taking a 6-2, 6-3 win over Drake's Jordane Dookie and Yecora walking away with a 6-4, 6-1 against Lea Holmlund of Marquette.
Shlyakhta notched a 7-6 (4), 6-4 singles win over Milwaukee's Honoka Yamashita.
The Huskies went 7-1 in doubles with Storkaas / Kousiou, Masherava / Shlyakhta and Yecora / Varela Herrera each going 2-0. Budak / Garcia Miralles went 1-1 with a 7-6 (7-2) win over St. Thomas.
Day Three
The Huskies posted five wins in singles and two wins in doubles on Sunday. Yecora capped a 6-0 weekend with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Anna Louise Bjornestad of St. Thomas and teamed up with Varela Herrera for a doubles win over UNI.
Garcia Miralles, Kousiou, Masherava and Shlyakhta each recorded singles wins as well.
NIU will compete in the Horizon League Fall Championships next weekend with a chance to qualify for the ITA Conference Masters.
