Herd Tennis Downs NIU 5-0 in MAC Quarterfinals
Marshall to Take On Rival Miami in Semifinals

4/29/2005

MUNCIE, Ind. – In spite of a sluggish start in doubles play, the Marshall Thundering Herd tennis team came back in resounding fashion in singles to down Northern Illinois, 5-0, in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center.

With the win, Marshall advances to the semifinals to take on the Miami RedHawks at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Herd is now 17-7 overall and has won it last ten matches in shutout fashion.

“I feel like we played really well in singles today and we’ll look to build on that,” Marshall head coach John Mercer said. “Hopefully we can play even better in the semifinals tomorrow. Like always, we’re looking forward to playing our rival Miami. It should be a good match.”

The Thundering Herd picked up the doubles point against the Huskies after wins at the second and third positions. Ashley Kroh (Louisville, Ky.), the MAC Player of the Year, tied the all-time Marshall doubles wins mark (106) with an 8-6 win along with partner Jeanne Schwartz (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at No. 2, to clinch the doubles point for the Herd. Lille Nzudie (Duoala, Cameroon) and Shannon Brown (Overland Park, Kan.), picked up the other Herd doubles win, 8-4, on court three.

“Northern Illinois came out really prepared for us and played us tough,” Nzudie said. “It was great to get the first win as we hope to claim our fourth MAC Tournament in a row.”

After a close call in doubles, the Herd went on to dominate in singles play. Kroh, Brown, Schwartz and Danielle Hock (Wigan) were all victorious in singles to clinch the match 5-0 for second seeded Marshall. Kroh’s win moved her into first place all-time on the Marshall career overall wins list with 196, adding to her list of accomplishments in the Herd uniform.

“It was nice to get through day one even though it wasn’t as clean as we would’ve like it to be,” Hock said. “Hopefully we’ll come out sharper in the next two rounds.”

The Herd will take on the No. 3 seed Miami RedHawks, who came away with a 4-1 win against Buffalo on Friday. The Herd downed the RedHawks 7-0 earlier this season. Miami is 17-6 on the year.

RESULTS:
Doubles
No. 1 – Andrade/Svetlic def. Good/Hock 8-3
No. 2 – Schwartz/Kroh def. Drake/Delgadillo 8-6
No. 3 – Brown/Nzudie def. Martinez/Brooks 8-4

Singles
No. 1 – Kroh def. Drake 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 – Nzudie vs. Andrade 6-0, 3-2 DNF
No. 3 – Good vs. Svetlic 6-4, 1-1 DNF
No. 4 - Hock def. Martinez 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 – Schwartz def. Delgadillo 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 – Brown def. Brooks 6-0, 6-0