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Aurora, Ill. - The Lewis University women's tennis team pushed Division I Northern Illinois to the brink in their spring opener, but the Huskies prevailed with the 5-2 non-conference victory at the Vaughn Athletic Center on Friday (Jan. 24) afternoon.
With the victory, Northern Illinois improves to 1-0, while the Flyers are now 0-1.
SInce Northern Illinois was the host, the match was played under Division I rules where the best two out of three in doubles play is awarded one point.
The Huskies won two out of three matches, with the Flyers emerging victorious at No. 3 doubles. Senior
Kendra Mills (Elmhurst, Ill./York) and junior
Jill Wetmore (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa) picked up the 6-3 win over NIU's Cristina Alvarez and Maria Rozo.
The Flyers earned victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles with seniors
Zsofia Lanstiak (Budapest, Hungary/Karinthy Frigyes Gimnazium) and
Zsofia Kranczicki (Eger, Hungary/Szilagyi Erzsebet Gimnazium es Kollegium) winning their respective matches. Lanstiak upended NIU's Nelle Youel, 6-3, 0-6, 10-7, while Kranczicki claimed the 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Haley Dekkinga.
Lewis looked to have the edge at No. 3 and No. 4 singles as freshman
Ana Banic (Skradin, Croatia/Gimnazija Antuna Vrancica) and sophomore
Megan Nguyen (Germantown Hills, Ill./Metamora) each won the first set of their matches. They were unable to sustain that momentum, as the Huskies rallied to win the next two sets in each of those matches to claim the victory.
"We let that match slip away from us," Lewis head women's tennis coach
Brett Bridel said. "We didn't serve well and made way too many unforced errors. Â
"On the bright side, everyone gave a great effort and the mistakes we made today are all ones that we have control of," Bridel continued. "We will get back to work so that we will execute better the next time out."
Lewis returns to action on February 2nd, as they head to Milwaukee to square off with Cardinal Stritch for a 10 AM first serve.
