DeKALB — Women’s tennis faced struggles early in their Mid-American Conference home opener against the Miami University at Ohio RedHawks Friday. The Huskies lost 5-2 in the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House in DeKalb.

Doubles: 1-0 Miami

The RedHawks gained the upper hand over the Huskies early in Friday’s matchup by claiming the doubles point. Both of Miami’s winning doubles matches at No. 1 and No. 3 finished in their favor, 6-2. 

The No. 2 doubles match pitted NIU’s freshman Reagan Welch and senior Iuliia Dmitrieva against Miami freshmen Sarah Dev and Emilia Valentinsson. Emilia is the younger sister of current NIU junior men’s tennis player Oliver Valentinsson. The match ended prematurely due to the RedHawks having already secured the doubles point.

Singles: 4-2 Miami

Miami carried their momentum into the singles rounds by winning four of the six matches. Freshman Erika Dimitriev sustained the most lopsided loss on the singles lineup for NIU, falling at the No. 1 spot to Miami senior Brindtha Ramasamay 2-6, 2-6.

NIU freshman Angelica Ross and senior Christy Robinson were the only Huskies to earn team points after the RedHawks had already taken a 5-0 advantage. The two players each defeated their respective opponents in three sets with Ross defeating Valentinsson and Robinson edging out Dev.

Final results and looking ahead

Friday’s loss puts the Huskies at an overall record of 13-9 on the season. Their losing streak to conference foes now extends to four straight, putting them at 0-4 in the MAC to start the conference schedule. 

“I’m proud of the way our team fought today,” head coach Eric Burns said in an NIU Athletics news release. “I feel like we are playing pretty solid tennis and today we improved in a lot of areas, we just aren’t seeing the results we want at the moment. We need to not lose confidence because regardless of the results, we are still playing pretty well out there.”

Miami’s victory allows them to remain undefeated against MAC opponents at 4-0. Their overall record sits at 10-8 with their third consecutive win.

NIU’s next matchup will see them travel east to challenge the Ball State University Cardinals Sunday. Match play begins at noon CT in the Cardinals Creek Tennis Center in Muncie, Indiana. Live scoring for the event can be followed here.