Both NIU and Western Michigan knew it was going to be a close finish.

With identical MAC records heading into the final conference meet of the year, both women’s tennis teams needed a win to grab the No. 3 seed in next week’s MAC Tournament.

The meet came down to the final match but with no luck for the Huskies (12-7, 6-3 MAC). Valeria Stoilova from Western Michigan (14-8, 7-2 MAC) outlasted Karrie Tyioran in three sets to give her team a 4-3 win.

“I expected this was probably going to be a great match and it turned out what I thought would happen did,” NIU coach Laura Scott said. “It came down to the last couple of matches on the court. I was really pleased that our team stepped up and played that hard. There were great matches all around.”

The final match ended with Stoilova winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 for the Broncos at No. 4 singles.

“For us, it’s a big confidence win,” Broncos’ coach Betsy Kuhle said. “We’ve lost every 4-3 match this year and we haven’t been able to get over that hurdle.”

Tanja Sukovic, one of NIU’s two seniors, said being the last match on the court and having so much pressure on her shoulders was a tough position to be in.

“You want to win so bad and you have to be extremely mentally strong,” Sukovic said. “You have to keep everything out of your head and focus on the match.”

The Huskies lost the only other three set match at No. 1 singles when Branka Savic dropped the final two sets to lose 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Frederika Girsang.

NIU started out strong, winning their No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches to earn the doubles point. The Huskies won two of the first three singles matches and needed just one win in the final three to earn the match victory.

Sukovic picked up a win in her final home match, beating Malena Remynse 6-2, 6-3.

“Nothing really went wrong for us in the loss,” Sukovic said. “Everyone played awesome and gave it 100 percent. Our team has never played with this much heart. It was great.”

At No. 2 singles, Cassie Drake beat Melanie Peters 6-3, 6-3 for the only other Huskie win at singles.