HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky's men's and women's tennis teams will host Horizon League foe Wright State on Friday evening for Senior Day, which was previously scheduled for Saturday, April 22. In anticipation of inclement weather on Saturday, the matches were moved indoors to Five Seasons Sports Club on Friday, April 21, starting with the women's match at 4:30 and the men's match to follow.
LAST TIME OUT: The NKU women split the final road weekend of the regular season, downing Oakland 5-2 while dropping a 4-3 decision to Detroit Mercy.
Margita Sunjic,
Klara Skopac and
Sierra Nellessen all went undefeated in singles on the weekend, with Sunjic extending to a streak of nine-consecutive straight-set victories while Skopac recorded her fifth-straight win. On the men's side, the Norse fell to Xavier, 4-1 in a mid-week match at home.
Mate Virag secured NKU's only point with a 6-3, 6-1 win in the No. 1 spot.
TOURNAMENT SEEDING: Friday's match will determine whether or not the Norse will earn a bid to the 2017 Horizon League Tournament, which takes the top six teams on both the men's and women's sides. For the women, UIC, Youngstown State and Cleveland State currently sit in a three-way tie for first with two matches remaining, and have all secured a spot in the tournament. Detroit Mercy sits in fourth with a 5-2 record and two matches to play, while Milwaukee and Oakland are tied for fifth with a 3-4 record and a pair of matches to play. If both the Panthers and Golden Grizzlies win out, the Norse will be denied a bid regardless of outcome on Friday. In order to gain entry into the tournament, NKU would need to win over Wright State and would additionally need Oakland to lose once or Milwaukee to lose twice, which could be a likely scenario as the Golden Grizzlies play at UIC in the regular-season finale while the Panthers are on the road at CSU and YSU. This would put NKU over Oakland by virtue of head-to-head tiebreaker or ahead of Milwaukee with a better record.
The men will also be fighting for a spot in the tournament, though with eight League schools sponsoring men's tennis, the seeding is more clear-cut. Valparaiso has all but locked in the No. 1 seed with one match remaining against Detroit Mercy, which sits in a two-way tie for second with Green Bay at 4-1 in League play. Youngstown State is currently fourth, while NKU and Cleveland State are tied for fifth with a 2-4 record. However, the Norse must win on Friday to guarantee a spot in the tournament, as Wright State holds a 1-5 record and could knock NKU out of the top six with a head-to-head tiebreaker if Cleveland State wins its final match at Green Bay. If the Vikings lose to the Phoenix and Wright State takes the match, the process would go into a three-way tiebreaker, the outcome of which would be dependent on the final score of Friday's match.
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE: The Raider women sit on the outside looking into the League's top six in a tie for seventh with NKU at a 3-5 HL record. Wright State has seen similar outcomes as the Norse, holding competitive matches with some of the League's top teams with 4-3 setbacks to Cleveland State, UIC and Detroit Mercy. Karoline Haller tops the lineup for the Raiders, posting a 12-13 overall record while going 5-3 against League opponents for the third-best record in the No. 1 spot. The doubles point has been a good indicator of the team's outcome in tight matches, as WSU lost the opening point in three of its four 4-3 losses, while winning it in a 4-3 victory over Milwaukee.
For the men, the lone Horizon League win of the season was a 4-3 victory over UIC, a team that NKU downed, 5-2, the next day. However, when comparing NKU's finishes against the other teams in the League, the Raiders have not been as competitive, falling 6-1 to a CSU team that NKU beat 4-3 and falling behind by an extra point to Green Bay, Youngstown State and Detroit Mercy. Jacob Perkins has been at the top of the lineup for the League season, holding a 2-4 record. In doubles, WSU's No. 1 team of Jonas Brezing and Donovan Cellupica have yet to pick up a win in League play, while other combinations have won just three doubles sets combined in League play.
For more information on NKU's men's and women's tennis program, follow the team on Twitter @NKUNorseTennis or at facebook.com/nkunorsetennis.
