The Northern Illinois women’s tennis team fell to the Buffalo Bulls (7-11, 3-5 MAC) on senior day Sunday by a score of 5-2. The loss ended the regular season for the Huskies (11-11, 2-6 MAC) while dropping them to .500 on the season and earned them the seventh seed in the Mid-American Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament.
“For as well as we played in doubles,” said head coach Ryun Ferrell, “Buffalo played that well in singles. We battled well. We just could not overcome our obstacles. We had chances all over the map, but when it came time to execute, we just couldn’t. Now we will focus on the MAC tournament and get ready for Akron.”
Doubles, a strong suit for the Huskies all season, were once again the focal point for the team. All three duos earned victories for NIU. Especially sweet was the win by the senior tandem of Sara McLaughlin (Moline, Ill./Moline) and Emily Rogers (Rochester, Minn./Century) as it came on senior day. The two defeated Buffalo’s Kira Golenko and Miranda Podlas 8-5.
Picking up their 11th doubles victory of the season were sophomore Haley Dekkinga (Allegan, Mich./Allegan) and freshman Stephanie McDonald (Harare, Zimbabwe/St. Anne’s Diocesan C0llege). Freshmen Nelle Youel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) and Arantza De La Torre (San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Motolinia) grabbed their ninth W on the year.
Freshman Mary Malkin (Tel Aviv, Israel/Alliance) picked up the lone singles win for the Huskies over Kira Golenko, 6-0, 4-6, 7-6.
The Huskies will next play at 2 p.m. Friday, April 27, on the West Tennis Courts. They will take on the No. 2 seed Akron Zips who defeated the Huskies 7-0 on Saturday. The match will take place during the quarterfinals of the MAC Women’s Tennis Tournament.
NIU will play host to the MAC tournament festivities with the first match to be played Thursday, April 26 at 1:00 p.m. Two matches will also take place at the DeKalb High School Tennis Courts on Friday.
For more information on NIU women’s tennis and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.