Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Northern Illinois
Tennis Upended by Northern Illinois
3/27/2010 9:59:55 PM | Tennis
Injury bug bites standout freshman
DEKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com)—After winning two of the three matches to earn the doubles point, Saturday, March 27, the Eastern Michigan University women's tennis team was unable to ride the momentum to a victory and suffered a 5-2 setback to the Northern Illinois Huskies in the team's Mid-American Conference season opener in Dekalb, Ill.
The combo of Xu Chang and Georgia de'Lisle-Tarr scored the first doubles win of the day for the Eagles as they defeated a Huskies' duo in a 9-7 decision. Karina Ahuja and Marcela Rivero followed up with an 8-2 victory over NIU's Kelly Phillips and Stephanie Okuma.
Unfortunately for Eastern (6-8, 0-1 MAC), the only singles point earned was a 6-3, 7-6 decision by Rivero.
Injuries continue to be a concern for EMU, however, as freshman standout Julia Breuss retired after one singles set due to an injury.
"This is a tough loss to swallow," said EMU Head Coach Ryan Ray. "We just plain got outplayed at the end of this match. We need to get back to work Monday morning because the road ahead is not an easy one."
The Eagles hope to get healthier before hitting the road for back-to-back MAC showdowns on April 2 and 3, with matches against the University at Buffalo and the University of Akron, respectively.
Northern Illinois 5, Eastern Michigan 2
Doubles
1. Forsberg/Rogers (NIU) def. Westerink/Donnet (EMU) 8-5
2. Xu/de'Lisle-Tarr (EMU) def. Friedland/Mclaughlin (NIU) 9-7
3. Ahuja/Rivero (EMU) def. Okuma/Phillips (NIU) 8-2
Singles
1. Katie Friedlund (NIU) def. Julia Breuss (EMU) 7-6, Retired
2. Emily Rogers (NIU) def. Miriam Westerink (EMU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2
3. Brittany Fausett (NIU) def. Xu Chang (EMU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
4. Sara Mclaughlin (NIU) def. Georgia de'Lisle-Tarr (EMU) 7-6, 7-5
5. Marcela Rivero (EMU) def. Kelly Phillips (NIU) 6-2, 7-6
6. Martina Schnapp (NIU) def. Celine Donnet (EMU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
