In a quarterfinal at the UTR Sports NIT Championships, the Northern Illinois University women’s tennis team went toe-to-toe with the No. 57 ranked Washington State Cougars before falling, 4-0.

“I’m really proud of how the team played,” said NIU head coach Eric Burns. “It would have been easy to get down or discouraged after how the doubles point went, but we regrouped and really fought in singles. When they clinched at No. 1, there were two matches in a third set and Isa [Righi] was one point away from winning her match. It really was up for grabs there at the end. Washington State is a good team, and we showed that NIU is a good team too.”

WSU clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles by the Cougars’ Eva Alvarez Sande, the highest ranked player in the tournament, over NIU No. 1 Maria Dzemeshkevich. As that match ended, the Huskies’ Isabella Righi had match point on her racquet at No. 5 singles versus Chisato Kanemaki with a 6-4, 5-3 lead.

In addition, the matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles were both in a third set. At No. 3 singles, freshman Lucia Yecora forced a third set with a 7-5 win in set two after losing the first set by the same score. School record holder Nataly Ninova, meanwhile, came back from 5-2 down in a first set tiebreaker to win five straight points to take the first set before dropping the second. Her match was tied 1-1 in the third set when the match was clinched.

Washington State took a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles and added straight set wins at No. 2 and No. 6 singles to take a 3-0 lead.

The Huskies, who played a singles line-up that included three freshmen Wednesday and just one senior, play St. Mary’s College of California on Thursday morning in a consolation match to close out the 2025 season.

“Anytime you can get experience in the postseason, it’s only going to help moving forward,” Burns said. “The experience is what we need and want to help us get to those next steps in the future. Every time we get these opportunities, it’s good.”

NIT Quarterfinals

Washington State 4, NIU 0

May 7, 2025

Rome, Georgia – Rome Tennis Center

Singles

1. Eva Sande Alvarez (WSU) def. Maria Dzemeshkevich (NIU) 7-5, 6-4
2. Maxine Murphy (WSU) def. Irmak Budak (NIU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Lucia Yecora (NIU) vs. Elyse Tse (WSU) 5-7, 7-5, INC
4. Nataly Ninova (NIU) vs. Hania Abouelsaad (WSU) 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 1-1 INC
5. Isabella Righi (NIU) vs. Chisato Kanemaki (WSU) 6-4, 5-3 INC
6. Martina Puvill (WSU) def. Theodora Kousiou (NIU) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles

1. Sande Alvarez/Murphy (WSU) def. Dzemeshkevich/ Ninova (NIU) 6-2.
2. Kanemaki/Tse (WSU) def. Yecora/Righi (NIU) 6-1
3. Puvill/Abouelsaad (WSU) vs. Welch/Horne (NIU) 4-2 INC

Order of Finish:

Doubles – 1, 2; Singles 2, 6, 1