Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. (Mar. 5, 2021) – The North Central College women's tennis team fought hard on Friday against NCAA Division I foe Chicago State University but ultimately came up short in a 6-1 final inside Park Forest Tennis & Health Club.
 
With Chicago State only having five healthy players, the Cardinals scored the first doubles win by default at the No. 3 position, but the Cougars took the top-two position to claim the one team point for doubles play as the two team played by division I rules.
 
The Cardinals (3-1) evened the score as Nina Patience won by default at the No. 6 spot, but the Cougars clinched the match win with straight-set victories at positions 2-5.
 
Atop the lineup, Kaeli Smashey turned in an impressive performance, scoring a 6-3 first-set win over Kristina Pukhaeva to take an early advantage.  After falling 2-6 in the second set, Smashey battled Pukhaeva in the third-set tiebreaker but came up on the wrong side of a 10-8 final, nearly pulling off the upset.
 
North Central has two weeks off until hitting the court again on Friday, Mar. 19 against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at Lake Geneva Tennis Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin at 6 p.m.