March 28, 2008

KALAMAZOO, Mich.-The Northern Illinois University women's tennis team fell to No. 74 Western Michigan, 7-0, Friday afternoon in Kalamazoo, Mich.

"The talent's beginning to catch up with the toughness," said NIU head coach Ryun Ferrell. "We're tougher today than we were last weekend. We gave a good Western Michigan team a nice battle. I'm really excited about the direction we're headed."

While NIU (3-8, 1-2) was unable to post a victory against the Broncos, two Huskies turned in strong performances. Jenny Edner (Stocksund, Sweden/Kramfors Tennis Gymnasiet) and Dora Delgadillo (San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores) pushed their opponents to the brink, with both losing in tiebreakers.

Edner's No. 5 singles match with Ashley Moccia went to a third-set superbreaker, with the first player to get to 10 and win by two wins the match. Edner won the first match, 6-2, but fell 7-6 in the second set, losing the tiebreaker, 7-1. Ashley Moccia defeated Edner in the third set, winning the superbreaker 10-3 to win the third set 1-0. Delgadillo gave Amanda Moccia a battle at No. 6 singles. After losing the first set, 6-3, She fell 7-6, losing the tiebreaker 7-4.

The Huskies return to the court March 29 when NIU travels to Bowling Green State University to face the Falcons. Match time is set for 1 p.m. Central Time.

Singles

1. Kerstin Pahl (WMU) def. Nao Umemura (NIU) 6-0, 6-0

2. Priyanka Parekh (WMU) def. Lilian Asuaje (NIU) 6-1, 6-1

3. Noriko Saruta (WMU) def. Kathryn Friedlund (NIU) 6-3, 6-1

4. Emily Dudzik (WMU) def. Brooke Forsberg (NIU) 6-3, 6-3

5. Ashley Moccia (WMU) def. Jenny Edner (NIU) 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 1-0 (10-3)

6. Amanda Moccia (WMU) def. Dora Delgadillo (NIU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)

Doubles

1. Pahl/Parekh (WMU) def. Umemura/Forsberg (NIU) 8-2

2. Moccia/Saruta (WMU) def. Asuaje/Friedlund (NIU) 8-0

3. Dudzik/Yumi Matsuto (WMU) def. Edner/Delgadillo (NIU) 8-4