Ilse Pacheco
Completing a perfect 3-0 weekend to open the spring season, Northern Illinois scored 7-0 wins over Valparaiso and Western Illinois on Saturday at Homewood-Flossmoor Tennis Club.
The stellar weekend gives sixth-year head coach Ryun Ferrell his best-ever start to a season.
“We had a solid performance today and played even better than we did yesterday,” Ferrell said. “We took care of business, which was really nice to see. We want to continue improving and get ready for Southern Illinois next weekend.”
Against Valparaiso, the Huskies easily grabbed the doubles point with two shutouts.
At No. 1, Nelle Youel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) and Arantza De La Torre (San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Motolinia) defeated Valparaiso’s Kristin Zakiewicz and Michelle Fredlake 8-0.
Ilse Pacheco (San Luis PotosÃ, Mexico/Alma Patria) and Mary Malkin (Tel Aviv, Israel/Alliance) did the same to Valpo’s Lauren Kammerer and Angelina Goheen at No. 3. In the No. 2 spot, Stephanie McDonald (Harare, Zimbabwe/St. Anne’s Diocesan College) and Haley Dekkinga (Allegan, Mich./Allegan) grinded out an 8-6 win over Valpo’s Megan Barthels and Kaitlyn Hamel.
Haley Dekkinga
In singles play, every Huskie won in straight sets.
Youel scored a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Zakiewicz at the top. Dekkinga took down Hamel 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 2 slot. De La Torre grabbed a 6-1, 6-1 decision over Fredlake at No. 3. Malkin battled for a 6-1, 6-4 win over Barthels at No. 4. McDonald put together a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 5 over Kammerer.
Cristina Alvarez (Zaragoza, Spain/Cristorey and Sagrado Corazon De Jesus) rounded it out with a 6-0, 6-0 triumph against Valpo’s Aubree Zdanovec.
NIU was even better against Western Illinois as the Huskies won all three doubles matches without surrendering a point. The same doubles lineup produced three 8-0 wins to claim the doubles point.
In singles play, each Huskie scored straight set wins again and McDonald was the only one to not win by a 6-0, 6-0 tally. She earned a 6-0, 6-1 win to complete a very successful weekend for NIU.
Next up for the Huskies is a home match against Southern Illinois at 1 p.m. CT Saturday, Feb. 2, in Rockford at the Boylan Tennis Center.
For more information on NIU women’s tennis and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
