"I was proud of our effort today," NIU head coach Eric Burns said. "We got off to a great start winning the doubles and that is usually a good formula for us to have success, but Western was too good today on a couple of courts that we knew were important positions for us. We fought hard though, just came up a little short today.
"Today should not detract from our season. We nearly finished at .500 with a record of 14-15 which is tough to do in D-I tennis, and especially with our schedule and the MAC going to a double round robin this year."
NIU (14-15, 6-8) opened the match strong taking the doubles point. Maria Potsi and Anastasia clinched the point with a 6-4 victory at No. 1 doubles. Lara Slisko and Fernanda Naves took the first match of the day, 6-2 at No. 3 doubles.
Freshman Diana Lukyanova wrapped up her sensation freshman campaign with a 7-5, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles. Lukyanova finished the season with a team-best 21-7 record, including an 18-6 record at No. 3 singles. She was also 2-0 when stepping up to No. 1 singles.
NIU's 14 wins are the most since 2012-13 when the Huskies finished 14-10, while the six conference wins are the most by an NIU women's tennis team since 2002-03 when that group was 6-3.
"We had more wins this season in MAC play than this program has seen in a while," Burns said. "We swept the season matches against the past two conference champions in Miami and Buffalo. We went from a last place team on a 17-match losing streak in MAC play to one that finished fifth and would have made the MAC Tournament had it been hosted this year.
"We were competitive in every match and had paths to win in most our conference matches. I am proud of everything we accomplished this season, and it has paved the way for future success with our program. We still have a lot of work to do to bring a MAC championship to NIU, but we are going to continue to build this program and do everything we can to make it happen. We are grateful for everyone's effort and contributions. It was truly a team effort, and everyone had a big moment this year that helped the team."
-NIU-
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Broncos Best Huskies in Season Finale - Northern Illinois University Athletics
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