DEKALB, Ill. -- The Eastern Illinois women's tennis squad picked up a 4-3 victory at Northern Illinois on Saturday (Feb. 9). With the win the Panthers improve to 2-0 on the spring season.
"I was very proud of the way the entire team preformed today," said EIU head coach John Blackbun. "A lot of different people stepped up today to contribute in a lot of tough matches. The effort and style of doubles play was especially exciting because of the hard work we've been devoting to it in practice. All the singles matches were hard fought and I was proud of the way we approached the challenges. We're looking forward to taking more steps forward this week in practice before next weekends matches."
EIU captured the important doubles point as the duos of Natalie Martin/Hayley Homburg and Sandra Sasidharan/Cara Huck won their respective matches at No. 1 and No. 2.
In singles play, junior Natalie Martin picked up an impressive straight set win at No. 2 and sophomore Hayley Homburg battled to a three-set win at No. 3 singles.
Stephanie Harmazy swept her opponent in consecutive sets at No. 6 singles to help seal the win for the Panthers. The No. 1 match between EIU standout Sandra Sasidharan and her NIU opponent was retired due to a player injury.
The squad will return to the court next weekend, traveling to Fort Wayne, Ind. for two contests. EIU will compete versus the home squad, IPFW, on Friday evening prior to a Saturday morning matchup with Niagara.
Eastern Illinois 4, Northern Illinois 3
Doubles
1. Martin/Homburg (EIU) def. Asuaje/Forsberg (NIU) - 8-3
2. Sasidharan/Huck (EIU) def. Delgadillo/Edner (NIU) - 8-3
3. Friedlund/Okuma (NIU) def Allgire/Carrie Larson (EIU) - 8-4
Singles
1. Lillian Asuaje (NIU) vs. Sandra Sasidharan (EIU) - 7-6, 3-0 (ret.)
2. Natalie Martin (EIU) def. Katie Friedlund (NIU) - 6-1, 6-2
3. Hayley Homburg (EIU) def. Brooke Forsberg (NIU) - 6-4, 6-7, 6-2
4. Jenny Edner (NIU) def. Abby Allgire (EIU) - 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
5. Doris Delgadillo (NIU) def. Cara Huck (EIU) - 6-3, 6-2
6. Stephanie Harmazy (EIU) def. Stephanie Okuma (NIU) - 6-4, 6-3
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID