Women's Tennis Downs NIU, 4-3

Friday, April 6

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

NORTHERN ILLINOIS

April 06, 2001 | Women's Tennis

April 6, 2001

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's tennis team lost the doubles point, but rallied for a 4-3 win over Northern Illinois University Friday (April 6) in a Mid-American Conference dual match.

The win improves the Falcons to 7-9 overall and 3-1 in MAC action. NIU drops to 5-11 and 1-4, respectively, on the year.

The Huskies took an early lead after capturing two of the three doubles matches. BGSU's lone winning team consisted of senior Erika Wasilewski and freshman Lisa Maloney at the middle flight.

The Falcons' third-flight team of seniors Tracy Howitt and Meghan Rhodes lost by a narrow 9-7 score.

Needing to win for of the six singles matches for the victory, the Falcons did just that. Senior Abby Bratton captured a three-set victory from Karrie Tyioran at the second flight. After losing the first set, Bratton rallied to win the second set in a tiebreaker, then take the decisive third set.

Wasilewski won her third-flight match in straight sets, as did Maloney at the fifth flight. Howitt needed the minimum two sets to win at the sixth level.

Junior Devon Bissinger lost a close match at the fourth flight, falling in a third-set tiebreaker.

Wasilewski's win gives her a team-leading total of 15 singles victories this year. Her doubles victory was the 72nd of her career, moving her into a tie for third place (with Bratton) on the BGSU list.

Wasilewski now has a total of 144 career wins and has moved past Cindy Mikolajewski (143 wins from 1994-97) into sole possession of fourth place on the school list. Bratton ranks second on that list with 147 total wins in her Falcon career, while Rhodes is third with 145 victories. Deidee Bissinger (1997-2000) holds the school record with 153 combined career wins.

The Falcons will return to action with a Saturday (April 7) home match vs. Western Michigan University. That key MAC contest is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.

BGSU 4, Northern Illinois 3

Singles

1 - Branka Savic (NIU) def. Meghan Rhodes 6-4, 6-3
2 - Abby Bratton (BGSU) def. Karrie Tyioran 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5
3 - Erika Wasilewski (BGSU) def. Taja Sukovic 6-2, 6-2
4 - Kris Tiedt (NIU) def. Devon Bissinger 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2)
5 - Lisa Maloney (BGSU) def. Molly Opel 6-2, 6-4
6 - Tracy Howitt (BGSU) def. Kristi McIntyre 6-1, 6-4

Doubles

1 - Opel/Tiedt (NIU) def. Bissinger/Bratton 8-4
2 - Maloney/Wasilewski (BGSU) def. Sukovic/Tyioran 8-4
3 - McIntyre/Savic (NIU) def. Howitt/Rhodes 9-7