KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's tennis team began Mid-American Conference play with a 5-2 win over Northern Illinois on Friday afternoon inside the West Hills Athletic Club. The Broncos have now won three straight, improving their overall mark to 10-7 with a 1-0 league record.

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"I thought we played really well in doubles today and it set the tone for the rest of the match," commented WMU head coach Ryan Tomlinson. "In singles play we got a couple quick sets and then rolled through one through four singles from there. It's good to be 1-0 in the MAC but now we've got to get ready for a good Eastern Michigan team on Sunday."

In doubles, the duo of junior Denise Azcui and freshman Jeryn Jack started the Broncos off with a 6-2 win at No. 3 before the Huskies took the win at the two. Junior Melina Lyubomirova and junior Katja Fevralev were able to clinch the match at No. 1 with a 6-1 win over their NIU opponents as WMU took a 1-0 lead heading into singles.

Azcui came out of the gate hot in her singles match at No. 3 as the junior gave up just one point to defeat NIU's Abigail Dekkinga 6-0, 6-1, winning her fourth consecutive match. Lyubomirova followed suit at the two position with a 6-2, 6-3 win and pushed the Broncos ahead 3-0. Eristavi became the match-clincher as the redshirt senior picked up her eighth-straight victory with a 6-1, 6-4 win over the Huskie's number one player Thisuri Moligoda.

The final point for the Broncos came from Fevralev as she won 6-4, 6-1 at the four spot, finishing fifth.

Western Michigan is back in action this Sunday, April 1, welcoming Eastern Michigan at 1 p.m. Weather permitting, the Broncos will either play outside for the first time this season on the Sorensen Courts or inside West Hills.