The University of Akron Athletics
Tennis Meets NIU In MAC Championship, Again
April 25 | Women's Tennis
AKRON, Ohio – The ninth-seeded University of Akron tennis team will face eighth-seeded Northern Illinois on Thursday at noon EDT in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Championship being held on the University of Toledo campus. The meeting is the second in less than a week between the Zips (9-12) and Huskies (5-11), as NIU defeated UA 5-2 in last Saturday's regular-season finale at Akron's Hyre Park.
Thursday also marks the third time in as many seasons that Akron and Northern Illinois have faced off in the opening round of the league championship event. Last year, the No. 8 Zips lost 4-0 to the No. 9 Huskies, and in 2005 No. 10 UA fell 5-0 to No. 7 NIU. This year's winner will take on top-seeded and nationally-ranked Western Michigan (19-6) on Friday at 10 a.m. The Broncos defeated the Zips 7-0 in a regular-season meeting on March 30 in Akron, and are the defending conference champion.
All matches at the MAC
Championship will be held at UT Varsity Courts or Ottawa Park, and
in the event of inclement weather would be moved indoors to Laurel
Hill Tennis Club.
In last weekend's match-up, Northern
Illinois opened play by winning the doubles point, but Akron did
not go down easy. At No. 1, the Zips' pair of Tanya Gombera and Amy Sherlock rallied from a 7-4 deficit to
win 8-7 (1). At the No. 2 position, Jenna
Larson and Lindsey Berry trailed 7-2, but were able to
pull to within 7-6 before giving up a final margin of 8-6. At No.
3, Alyssa Carlson and Aude Percherin led 3-2,
but the Huskies rallied for an 8-5 win. NIU clinched the match by
posting straight-set wins at the last three singles positions, but
UA saved some face by pushing Nos. 1-3 into third set
supertiebreakers. At No. 1 Gombera claimed a 6-7, 6-1, 10-4
victory, while Larson notched a 6-0, 2-6, 10-8 win at No. 2.
Sherlock lost 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 at No. 3.
Players Mentioned
