Although there were no chalk marks in the “W” column for the Huskies during the Championship rounds of the NIU Women’s Tennis Invitational, NIU proved to be the most consistent team in the individual tourney.

The Huskie netters advanced to four of the five Championship rounds in the five-team tournament, which was comprised of Eastern Michigan, University of Cincinnati, Illinois Valley Community College and Western Illinois.

“We were up against some tough competition, and we did really well—I was glad,” said NIU boss Patty Groth. “Everybody got a lot of playing time. The main purpose of the tournament wasn’t to keep team scores—it was to play a lot of matches, and we did that.”

NIU’s No. 1 seed, Natasha Koprivica, was one of those who spent lots of time on the court. Although Koprivica lost her championship round in the first flight singles 6-3, 6-4, Groth said she was impressed with Koprivica’s play.

“(Natasha) showed a lot of character,” Groth said. “She played three long matches before the championship round, and she was pretty worn out. She could’ve easily given up during the last set, but she tried right up to the last point.”

Also advancing to championship rounds were Lisa Boedecker in the third flight singles, and the team of LeeAnne Milne-Heidi VanLankvelt in the first flight doubles and Koprivica-Boedecker in the second flight doubles.

Boedecker defaulted after the first set during the championship round because of a re-injured Achilles Tendon. Groth said Boedecker will be ready for action next weekend.

Milne-Vanlankvelt lost a 6-2, 6-4 match to their Western opponent, while Koprivica-Boedecker surrendered a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 defeat to EMU.

Building their paths to the championship level, Koprivica (6-3, 6-2 over EMU) and Boedecker (6-2, 6-1 over IVCC) had big wins in round three of the first and third flight singles, respectively.

Milne-VanLankvelt (6-4, 2-6,6-3 over EMU) and Koprivica-Boedecker (6-4, 6-2 over WIU) also made it to the top of the doubles with victories in their first and second flight doubles, respectively.

In the first day of action, Koprivica handled her share as the No. 1 singles seed match without much problem, defeating her Cincinnati opponent 6-1, 6-1.

Other Huskie singles winners were No. 3 Milne over WIU, No. 5 VanLankvelt over EMU and No. 7 Boedecker, who swept her WIU opponent 6-0, 6-0.

NIU was victorious in the No. 2 and No. 3 slot doubles, with Milne-VanLankvelt handed a bye and Koprivica-Boedecker capping a 6-2, 6-2 win, respectively.

Not all of the final rounds were played due to inclement weather, and most of the second day matches were moved inside to the Kishwaukee YMCA.

The netters will host their final fall home match Thursday, as they challenge Valparaiso University at 3 p.m. at Gullikson Tennis Courts.