Stephanie McDonald
NIU’s Cristina Alvarez and Haley Dekkinga earned three-set victories at No. 5 and No. 2 singles, respectively, leading the Northern Illinois women’s tennis team to a 6-1 victory over Missouri-Kansas City Tuesday afternoon in Kansas City.
Northern Illinois won its 13th match of the 2013 spring season, tying the most wins in a season by a Huskie women’s tennis team since 2003, and upped its record to 13-2 this spring.
NIU is 11-0 in matches away from home this spring. UMKC fell to 3-10 with the loss.
After Northern Illinois claimed the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots by the duos of Nelle Youel–Arantza De La Torre, and Dekkinga-Stephanie McDonald, respectively, Kansas City tied the match with a straight-set win at No. 3 singles by Dimitra Stavrianakou.
NIU’s Mary Malkin won her 13th match of the season, 6-2, 6-4, over UMKC’s Suzan Lisenby at No. 4 singles, and Youel extended her undefeated streak to 15 with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 1.
When Dekkinga, Alvarez and McDonald were forced to a third set by their Kangaroos’ opponents, the match hung in the balance. However, Alvarez took the third set of her match, 6-4, and Dekkinga won 6-2 in the third set, to clinch Northern Illinois’ victory. McDonald closed out her match for the 6-1 final margin.
“This was an amazing day,” said NIU head coach Ryun Ferrell. “Just when we thought we had UMKC down, they came right back. We did battle well right from the start and we finished. It was nice to see.”
Northern Illinois looks to continue its winning ways today when the Huskies take on Emporia State in Emporia, Kan., in their first match of the spring to be played outside.
For more information on NIU women’s tennis and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
