March 23, 2007

DeKalb, Ill. - NIU came up short in their match against Mid-American Conference favorite Western Michigan, losing 7-0. The Huskies have now lost their last four MAC openers and have lost three matches in a row, but they are still 4-4 on the season with plenty of matches left. WMU continues to play exceptionally and improved their record to 12-6 on the year.

The Huskies were unable to pick up any wins in doubles play. The closest match was at the third slot where WMU's Emily Dudzik and Carrie Jeanmaire beat NIU's Dora Delgadillo and Jenny Edner, 8-4.

NIU also did not get any singles wins, losing all six singles matches in straight sets. The Huskies' most competitive singles matches were Nao Umemura's loss to Priyanka Parekh, 6-3, 6-3, and Brooke Forsberg's loss to Noriko Saruta, 6-3, 6-4.

The Huskies were hoping to get an advantage by playing outdoors at home, but they were denied that chance because of wet conditions. WMU has proved to be a very solid team by beating 75th ranked Michigan State and barely losing to 35th ranked Michigan. Today, the Broncos continued to prove that they are the MAC's best by beating the Huskies, 7-0. NIU head coach Ryun Ferrell knew that his team had their work cut out for them, but liked his team's mental approach and feels that they can build on that.

"We played tough today, but to be good against a team like Western Michigan, we needed to play outside and have the elements," said Ferrell. "We had the right attitude, we were on the defensive pretty quickly. Tomorrow is another day that brings another MAC opponent. Our goal is to take the next step in this process of being `tough'."

The Huskies are in action at home again tomorrow at 1pm against Bowling Green (7-4).

Results

Doubles

1) Ashley Moccia/Noriko Saruta (WMU) def. Megan Brooks / Brooke Forsberg 8-2

2) Kerstin Pahl/Priyanka Parekh (WMU) def. Lilian Asuaje / Nao Umemura 8-2

3) Emily Dudzik/Carrie Jeanmaire (WMU) def. Dora Delgadillo / Jenny Edner 8-4

Singles

1) Carrie Jeanmaire (WMU) def. Lilian Asuaje 6-0, 6-2

2) Kerstin Pahl (WMU) def. Jenny Edner 6-1, 6-2

3) Priyanka Parekh (WMU) def. Nao Umemura 6-3, 6-3

4) Noriko Saruta (WMU) def. Brooke Forsberg 6-3, 6-4

5) Ashley Moccia (WMU) def. Dora Delgadillo 6-4, 6-0

6) Emily Dudzik (WMU) def. Megan Brooks 6-1, 6-2