Women’s tennis competes at Purdue, Naves falls in bracket final

Sophomore Fernanda Naves follows though on her swing during a 2018 match.

By James Krause

Sep 23, 2019

DeKALB — The women’s tennis team comes out of this weekend’s Purdue University Invitational with one bracket finals appearance and one consolation bracket championship.

Sophomore Fernanda Naves made the finals of the Basham Courts Draw while fellow sophomore Paula Veyhle won the consolation portion of the Hammer Down Draw.

Head Coach Eric Burns said the performance of his team was an improvement from the prior team’s invitational at Bowling Green State University.

“We took some steps forward this weekend from Bowling Green last week,” Burns said in an NIU Athletics press release. “I’m really proud of the team effort. We fought hard and improved in some areas we discussed as a team. We picked up several solid wins at this tournament. We have much more to do, but we are progressing nicely.”

Basham Courts Singles Draw

Naves made quick work of Anna Reynolds, Wright State University junior, winning 6-2 in the first set and going a clean 6-0 in the second. After trading 6-3 set wins, Naves won 6-4 in the final set of her semi-finals matchup with Bowling Green first-year Maria Jose Magro Quiroz.

Another Bowling Green player, junior Yulia Kapitanova, beat Naves in back-to-back 6-3 sets to claim the championship.

Hammer Down Singles Draw

After being eliminated in the first round, Veyhle won a shootout over Lipscomb University sophomore Maddox Brandy, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. In the consolation final, Veyhle defeated Vasavi Ganesan, Eastern Michigan University first-year, in straight sets to leave the invitational with a winning record.

Black Singles Draw

After winning her first match due to a retirement, junior Maria Potsi fell to Purdue first-year Nikol Dobriova 6-1 and 6-3. In her third place match, Potsi won a tiebreaker in her first set against Marie Mayerova, Eastern Michigan redshirt senior, before winning the second set 6-3 to claim a podium position.

Schwartz Tennis Center Singles Draw

While junior Lara Silsko failed to pick up a victory in the bracket, sophomore Julia Dmitrieva advanced to the winner’s bracket with a win over Wright State senior Anna Jones 6-3 and 6-4.

Dmitrieva fell to Victoria Sec, Ball State University junior, in the semifinals Saturday and DuPaul University first-year Temilayo Adelakun in the third place match on Sunday.

Purdue Pete Singles Draw

Senior Mary Ellen Green won her opening-round contest Friday, beating Wright State first-year Ashton Yarosh 6-4, 6-1. Green was bounced in the quarterfinals later on by University of Cincinnati senior Anna Philp.

In the largest singles field of the tournament, a champion was not decided due to weather suspension on Sunday.

Boilermaker Singles Draw

Senior Jovana Peric saw her championship hopes end for the second invitational in a row due to retirement.

Down 4-0 in the second set, Peric retired to allow Purdue senior Alex Sabe to advance. Peric also lost her consolation match by default.

Black Doubles Draw

Green and sophomore Christy Robinson teamed up in the Purdue Doubles Draw, beating the cross-institution pair of Adelakun of DuPaul and Miami University junior Janelle Ghanem.

Green and Robinson were bounced by DePaul’s junior Marija Jovick and sophomore Maddie Yergler and fell again in the third place matchup against University of Connecticut junior Elizabth Kozyi and Lipscomb sophomore Eleanor Chapman.

Potsi and Veyhle lost both of their matchups in the Gold Doubles Draw while Peric and Dmitieva made it to the quarterfinals before losing in the Black Doubles Draw.

The Huskies now take three weeks off from competition, returning Oct. 11 to travel to East Lansing, Michigan for the ITA Regionals hosted by Michigan State University.