DeKALB – NIU women’s tennis’ No. 1 doubles team of junior Erika Dimitriev and sophomore Nataly Ninova secured the first MAC Doubles Team of the Week honor of the 2024 dual match season after routing a ranked opponent, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Dimitriev and Ninova downed James Madison University’s 26th-ranked pairing of redshirt senior Cate Broerman and junior Hope Moulin in a 6-0 decision at No. 1 doubles on Sunday to help the Huskies claim the match’s doubles point.

The day prior, the Huskie pair battled with No. 25 University of Wisconsin’s No. 1 doubles team of graduate student Xinyu Cai and sophomore Maria Sholokhova. The match went unfinished, as the Badgers had already clinched the doubles point.

Dimitriev and Ninova are the first NIU duo to receive the honor since then-seniors Fernanda Naves and Christy Robinson accomplished the feat on April 20, 2022.

The Huskies return to the court at 3 p.m. Feb. 2 for their match against Marquette University, the first of a weekend homestand at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House.