KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Western Michigan head women's tennis coach Betsy Kuhle recorded her historic 500th career victory, and the Broncos swept a doubleheader with wins over Northern Illinois and Chicago State on Friday. With the wins, the Broncos improve to 12-7 on the season; the win over the Huskies gives the Broncos a 1-0 record in Mid-American Conference play.

Kuhle is just the second coach in the history of Western Michigan athletics to reach 500 career wins, joining former baseball coach Fred Decker in the exclusive club. Kuhle is one of just three active MAC coaches in any sport to reach 500 career wins.

"It makes you think of all the people that have contributed to those 500 wins," said Kuhle.  It really pleased me to see that [former WMU head men's tennis coach] Jack Vredevelt was here today; he was probably there for my first win, and today he was here for my 500th."

Kuhle kept the win in another perspective as well, though; it represented the start of the MAC season for her team.

"It means we're off to another great start," said Kuhle.  "This team has the ability to win at every spot in the line-up on any given day.  That's going to give us a chance to win every match in the MAC."

Kuhle's milestone came in the Broncos' first win of the day, when WMU opened MAC play with a convincing 7-0 shutout of the Huskies. The Broncos clinched the match in fairly quick fashion, with Caroline Aleck and and Kathleen Hawkins downing their opponents in the Nos. 6 and 5 matches, respectively, to start singles play.

Nini Sujashvili dominated the first set of the No. 1 singles match against Sarah McLaughlin, hitting an array of tough shots to take the first set 6-1. McLaughlin would battle back and open the second set with a 3-0 lead, but Sujashvili would take the break back to eventually win the set and take the match 6-1, 6-4, to clinch the team victory.

Maggie Remynse would follow with an impressive win over Emily Rogers in the No. 3 match; much like Sujashvili, Remynse controlled the first set easily but had to battle for the 6-1, 6-4 victory. Rachel Denny chipped in a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 win in the No. 2 singles match, and Jill Pastunink rounded out the events with a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (10) marathon victory over Haley Dekkinga in a two and a half hour match.

WMU took the doubles point by winning all three matches, starting with Sujashvili and April Kerr's win in the No. 1 doubles match. Aleck and Hawkins survived an early test from Dekkinga and Stephanie McDonald to win the No. 3 doubles match 8-4 and take the doubles point, and Pastunink teamed with Maria Nivia to clinch the doubles sweep.

The Broncos would start hot against the Cougars as well, quickly clinching the doubles points with 8-0 and 8-1 wins in the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles matches, respectively. Aleck and Hawkins would again be the first to notch singles victories, but this time April Kerr had the honor of clinching the match, defeating Mia Townsell 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 6 singles match. Sujashvili would close the scoring when she survived a first set tiebreaker with Rosalina Tejoprayitno to take the No. 1 singles match 7-6 (0), 6-2.

Western Michigan 7, Northern Illinois 0

Singles competition
1. Nini Sujashvili (WMU) def. Sara McLaughlin (NIU) 6-1, 6-4
2. Rachel Denny (WMU) def. Nelle Youel (NIU) 6-3, 7-5
3. Maggie Remynse (WMU) def. Emily Rogers (NIU) 6-1, 6-4
4. Jill Pastunink (WMU) def. Haley Dekkinga (NIU) 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (12-10)
5. Kathleen Hawkins (WMU) def. Arantza De La Torre (NIU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Caroline Aleck (WMU) def. Stephanie McDonald (NIU) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Nini Sujashvili/April Kerr (WMU) def. Sara McLaughlin/Emily Rogers (NIU) 8-1
2. Maria Nivia/Jill Pastunink (WMU) def. Nelle Youel/Arantza De La Torre (NIU) 8-7
3. Caroline Aleck/Kathleen Hawkins (WMU) def. Haley Dekkinga/Stephanie McDonald (NIU) 8-4

Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,5,1,3,2,4)

 

Western Michigan University 5, Chicago State 2

Singles competition
1. Nini Sujashvili (WMU) def. RosalinaTejoprayitno (CSU) 7-6 (7-0), 6-2
2. Karyn Emeralda (CSU) def. Maggie Remynse (WMU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Rosalia Tejoprayitno (CSU) def. Maria Nivia (WMU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Kathleen Hawkins (WMU) def. Ruta Grinvalde (CSU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Caroline Aleck (WMU) def. Mysta Townsell (CSU) 6-0, 6-2
6. April Kerr (WMU) def. Mia Townsell (CSU) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. April Kerr/Nini Sujashvili (WMU) def. Karyn Emeralda/Rosalia Tejoprayitno (CSU) 8-5
2. Kathleen Hawkins/Caroline Aleck (WMU) def. RosalinaTejoprayitno/Ruta Grinvalde (CSU) 8-1
3. Rachel Denny/Maria Nivia (WMU) def. Mia Townsell/Mysta Townsell (CSU) 8-0

Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,4,6,3,1,2)