HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky's women's tennis heads into the final weekend of Horizon League play, heading to Michigan to take on Detroit Mercy and Oakland. The trip begins on Friday, April 19, with the Norse squaring off against the Titans at 3 p.m. ET in Detroit. NKU then heads to Rochester for a 4:30 p.m. tilt with Oakland on Saturday, April 20.
NKU is coming off a 1-1 weekend, securing a 4-3 victory against Youngstown State before dropping a 4-3 decision to undefeated Cleveland State.
Maria Koo,
Elizabeth Rozin and
Katja Dijanezevic all went 2-0 on the weekend, with Dijanezevic downing both her opponents in straight sets out of the No. 5 singles spot. Rozin bested her opponent in No. 3 singles in straight sets against Youngstown State before coming out on top of a three-set win versus Cleveland State, and Koo went three sets in both matches out of the No. 2 spot to remain undefeated in Horizon League action.
The Norse currently sit in sixth place in the league standings with a 3-4 record, while Detroit Mercy is on the outside looking into the field of Horizon League Tournament teams with a 2-5 mark. Oakland sits in third with a 5-2 record, securing a spot in the postseason.
Detroit Mercy's two victories came against Green Bay, 7-0, and Youngstown State, 4-3, while the Titans lost to IUPUI, 4-3, a team that NKU defeated in a 5-2 decision. Jasmine Apawti and Ksenia Providokhna both hold winning records in league play, going 4-3 out of the No. 1 and 4 singles spots, respectively. The Titans most recently fell to Oakland in a 6-1 decision, with Providokhina providing the lone point in three sets.
Oakland's two losses in the league have come against the only two undefeated teams in the standings with 6-1 setbacks to both UIC and Cleveland State. Ava Thielman has recorded just one loss this season at the top of the lineup, suffering a setback to Cleveland State's Isabella Spindler in a 10-6 deciding pro set. The Golden Grizzlies also have a successful No. 2 singles player in Darya Maltseva, who also has just one blemish on her league record after falling in straight sets to UIC's Karyna Bihel.
Last season, NKU hosted both teams in the final weekend of league play. Both matches featured a 4-3 score, with the Norse coming out on top against the Titans while falling to the Golden Grizzlies.
