DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ? After a four-hour battle that started under sunny skies and ended under the lights at Embry-Riddle's Crotty Tennis Complex, the Embry-Riddle women's tennis team emerged with a 4-3 win over NCAA Division I Northern Illinois on Tuesday. The win snapped a four-match losing skid for the Eagles, who are now 3-4 on the year, while the Huskies, who lost to the Eagles by the same margin a year ago, are now 4-7 overall.

Playing according to NCAA I rules, the Huskies gained a one-point lead going into singles play after winning two of three doubles matches. Lilian Asuaje and Emily Rogers topped Julija Stojkovska and Mathilda Engstrom 8-6 at No. 2 and Katie Friedlund and Stephanie Okuma downed Marga Rico Jimenez and Sara Abraul 8-2 at No. 3. The Eagle tandem of Natasa Zoricic and Hana Im recorded the Eagles' only doubles win, holding off Brooke Forsberg and Nao Umemura 8-7 (7-4 in the tie-breaker) at the top doubles spot.

The Huskies extended their margin to 3-0 with singles wins at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots as Umemura downed Engstrom 6-3, 6-1 and Rogers defeated Rico Jimenez 6-2, 6-1.

Abraul won her match at No. 6 with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win over Forsberg and Zoricic dispatched Asuaje 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1. The match at No. 2 singles between Im and Friedlund went to three sets. Im fell 1-6 in the first, but rebounded to take next two sets 6-4 and 6-1, respectively, pulling the team score level at 3-3.

While Im was wrapping up her match, her teammate Stojkovska was getting ready to start her second set against Martina Schnapp at the No. 3 position. The match was a battle from the start with each player grinding out point after point. Schnapp took the first set 7-6 (7-4 in the tie-breaker), but Stojkovska regrouped and forced the match into a decisive third set with a 6-2 decision in the second. Stojkovska carried the momentum from her second set win into the third and overpowered Schnapp 6-1 to give the Eagles the win.

The Eagles have a brief respite from today's match as they will only have one day to recover before facing Barry at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The Buccaneers are currently ranked 15th in NCAA II.