NIU women’s tennis (11-3) split a doubleheader on Saturday, sweeping the Bradley University Braves (1-7) 7-0 before losing its first home match at the hands of the Cornell University Big Red (6-2) by a score of 6-1.
“I thought we competed really well in the second match,” said NIU women’s tennis head coach Eric Burns. “Cornell’s a very good team and we knew it was going to be a tough match. I thought we had some chances, but we didn’t close out leads and we didn’t close out big points. It just wasn’t our day in those bigger points here in the second match, but the effort was there. We fought hard against a good team.”
BRADLEY
The Huskies went into doubles matches needing only one win, due to a forfeit from Bradley at the No. 3 doubles spot.
Junior Isabella Righi and freshman Lucia Yecora made quick work of their match against Bradley freshman Ruby Tseng and sophomore Compassion Tsai, taking a 6-1 victory to clinch the point for NIU.
Senior Maria Dzemeshkevich and junior Nataly Ninova were locked in a 3-3 battle with Braves juniors Anna Belogliadova and Madi Rogers when the match was ruled unfinished.
The Huskies won each singles match in two sets, with junior Jenna Horne winning by forfeit.
After a 7-6 (7-0) first set, freshman Irmak Budak swept a 6-0 second set against Belogliadova.
Dzemeshkevich dominated a 6-2 first set against Bradley junior Mariia Pukhina before taking a close 7-6 (7-3) second set for the win.
In consecutive 6-4, 6-4 sets, Ninova bested Tseng at the No. 3 singles spot.
Yecora controlled her match against Tsai, winning in 6-0, 6-2 sets to continue her unbeaten season.
Huskie freshman Theodora Kousiou conceded just one game against Rogers, earning a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
CORNELL
Ninova and Dzemeshkevich fell to Cornell sophomore duo Michelle Ryndin and Victoria Zhao in a 6-3 match.
At the No. 2 doubles spot, Righi and Yecora defeated senior Jenny Wong and junior Emma Baker in a 6-4 set to even the doubles score.
After going down early against Cornell freshman Andrea Martinez De Los Rios and senior Alexandra Savu, Horne and senior Reagan Welch’s comeback came up short as they dropped a close 7-5 set to concede the doubles point.
Falling in 7-5, 6-4 sets, Dzemeskevich dropped her match against Ryndin.
Ninova was bested by Cornell freshman Sage Loudon, falling in 6-4, 6-2 sets.
Kousiou battled in a 7-6 (7-3) first set loss against Wong before being bested in a 6-1 second set for the defeat.
Righi was routed by Martinez, losing in 6-0, 6-3 sets.
Yecora’s unbeaten streak was snapped by Baker in a three hour match, despite taking a 7-5 first set win. In the second set, Yecora fell 7-5 before a final 7-6 (7-4) set for the loss. When asked about the length of the match, Yecora credited her mentality to the team.
“I’m not playing for myself,” Yecora said. “I’m playing for my team. I think that’s a good mindset, just battling the whole match. I’m feeling good playing so just keep trying and keep trying until it’s done.”
Budak avoided the sweep for the Huskies, taking a three set match against Zhao. After losing a 6-3 first set, Budak came back and took 6-4, 6-3 sets in the win.
“They’re doing great,” said Burns of the NIU freshmen. “They’re only going to get better with time and more matches, so it’s encouraging for the rest of the year and also for the future of the program to know that those guys have come out in year one and done so well.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies will play a mid-week match at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Milwaukee when they take on Marquette University, their final match before beginning Mid-American Conference play.
“We want to go in and continue our streak against Marquette,” Burns said. “We’ve won the last three matches and we know it won’t be an easy match. They have some players, especially towards the top of the lineup, that are tricky and so we’re going to have to go and play very well to go and get that, especially on the road. We just want to finish strong and take it one match at a time.”
