Illinois State Rolls To 6-1 Win Over Northern Illinois

NORMAL, Ill. – A pair of in-state foes squared off Wednesday afternoon, as the Illinois State women's tennis team hosted Northern Illinois in a midweek non-conference matchup. After a highly-contested doubles point, the Redbirds (4-1) were strong in singles play and rolled to a 6-1 win over the Huskies at the Evergreen Racquet Club.

"We played great singles out there today," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "Picking up all those first sets made a difference and when they played better as the match went on, we managed to hold off any comebacks."

The Redbirds took the early lead by winning the doubles point, however it came down to the third match to decide things. The No. 1 team of Tara Damnjanovic and Tijana Zlatanovic cruised to a 6-1 win, but the Huskies came back with a win at No. 3 to tie things up. That left the decision to court No. 2 and a tiebreaker, which ISU's Alexandra Abyasova and Silvia Pomarolli came out on top of by defeating NIU's Nataly Ninova and Reagan Welch by a score of 7-6 (7-5).

In singles action, it was Abyasova who kept the momentum going for the Redbirds as she wasted little time winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot to pick up ISU's second point of the match. Shortly after, Elena Jankulovska closed out NIU's Isabella Righi in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 at the No. 6 spot to make it 3-0 in favor of the Redbirds. Damnjanovic then clinched the match for ISU with her 6-3, 6-4 with at No. 4.

A win by Pomarolli at No. 5 and a three-set victory by Nevena Kolarevic at No. 3 upped the final score to 6-1 for the Redbirds as they improved to 3-0 at home this spring. The competition week continues for ISU in Chicago on Sunday, as the Redbirds travel to the Windy City to compete against Chicago State with first serve set for 10 a.m.

FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (6), Northern Illinois (1)

Doubles: 
No. 1 Tara Damnjanovic/Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) def. Erika Dimitriev/Anastasia Rakita (NIU) 6-1
No. 2 Alexandra Abyasova/Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) def. Nataly Ninova/Reagan Welch (NIU) 7-6 (5)
No. 3 Jenna Horne/Isabella Righi (NIU) def. Elena Jankulovska/Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) 6-4

Singles:
No. 1 Erika Dimitriev (NIU) def. Tijana Zlatanovic (ILS) 3-6, 7-5, 10-7
No. 2 Alexandra Abyasova (ILS) def. Anastasia Rakita (NIU) 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Nevena Kolarevic (ILS) def. Diana Lukyanova (NIU) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
No. 4 Tara Damnjanovic (ILS) def. Reagan Welch (NIU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) def. Nataly Ninova (NIU) 6-3, 7-5
No. 6 Elena Jankulovska (ILS) def. Isabella Righi (NIU) 6-0, 6-3

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