Feb. 3, 2012

WATERLOO, Iowa - The Northern Illinois women's tennis team dropped its first match of the weekend to Northern Iowa, 6-1, on Friday night at Blackhawk Tennis Club. Freshman Mary Malkin (Tel Aviv, Isreal/Alliance) was a bright spot for the Huskies singles attack as she picked up the only victory. NIU also picked up a doubles victory from the senior duo of Sara McLaughlin (Moline, Ill./Moline) and Emily Rogers (Rochester, Minn./Century).

"We looked young at the No. 2 and 3 doubles, like a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, which we are," said NIU Head Coach Ryun Ferrell. "But we settled down in singles. We were right there with Drake last weekend and we were right there with Northern Iowa today. It's exciting because we are right there. It's hard to be frustrated when we play as hard as we did.

"We are getting better match by match. I'm going to keep pushing them and we will keep improving as the season progresses. We are still hungry to play and get better, which is great to see."

Malkin improved her singles record to 4-0 on the season while taking down Northern Iowa's Krissy Lankelma 6-4, 6-1. This marks her third match in a row without dropping a set and is the only Huskie remaining with an undefeated record in singles play.

Picking up their second straight doubles victory were the team of McLaughlin/Rogers, defeating UNI's Lankelma and Chelsea Moore. The two seniors won by a score of 8-4 to improve their record to 2-2 as doubles teammates for the spring season.

Making her Huskie debut was freshman Stephanie McDonald (Harare, Zimbabwe/St. Anne's Diocesan College). McDonald teamed up with fellow Huskie Haley Dekkinga (Allegan, Mich./Allegan) in doubles play, but fell to the Panthers' Cassandra Dix and Stefannia Sampaio 8-2.

The Huskies will continue play against North Dakota tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. CT at Blackhawk Tennis Club.

NORTHERN IOWA (2-0) DEF. NORTHERN ILLINOIS (2-2), 6-1
FEBRUARY 3, 2012 | BLACK HAWK TENNIS CLUB

DOUBLES
No. 1 McLaughlin/Rogers (NIU) def. Lankelma/Moore (UNI) 8-4
No. 2 Kunzelmann/Pfahler (UNI) def. Youel/De La Torre (NIU) 8-3
No. 3 Dix/Sampaio (UNI) def. Dekkinga/McDonald (NIU) 8-2

SINGLES
No. 1 Nina Pfahler (UNI) def. Sara McLaughlin (NIU) 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 Cassandra Dix (UNI) def. Nelle Youel (NIU) 1-6, 6-4 (10-8)
No. 3 Jessica Kunzelmann (UNI) def. Emily Rogers (NIU) 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 Chelsea Moore (UNI) def. Haley Dekkinga (NIU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 Mary Malkin (NIU) def. Krissy Lankelma (UNI) 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Stefannia Sampaio (UNI) def. Arantza De La Torre (NIU) 7-5, 4-6 (10-7)