Nelle Youel
Northern Illinois women’s tennis player Nelle Youel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) was named the Mid-American Conference’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week, the league announced Friday.
The award is voted on by a select group of faculty athletic representatives from the conference’s member institutions.
Youel completed the most successful season by an individual in NIU women’s tennis history with four wins over the weekend. She earned a pair of straight set wins at No. 1 singles over opponents from Ball State and Miami, and added two doubles wins (along with partner Arantza De La Torre) at No. 1 doubles.
Youel’s win versus Miami was her 27th singles win of the year, giving her sole possession of the Northern Illinois record to break the mark set 24 years ago, by Natacha Koprivica in 1988-89. Youel won her 22nd and 23rd doubles match of the year, the most by a Huskie since Monica Larson won 24 matches in 1989-90, to rank fourth on the NIU single season doubles wins list.
Her 50 total victories this year rank second only to Koprivica’s 54 in 1988-89.
Youel finished the 2012-13 campaign 27-5 overall, including a stellar 21-3 mark this spring. Two of her three losses came in a third-set super tie-breaker. In doubles, playing primarily with De La Torre, she posted a 19-5 record this spring and was 23-7 on the year.
This is the first time Youel, who boasts a 4.0 GPA in Spanish, has received the honor in her career. She joins MacKenzie Roddy (Oct. 4), Mike Mascitti (Nov. 15), Nabal Jefferson and Amanda Corral (Dec. 6 and Dec. 18) as Huskies who have won the award in 2012-13.
For more information on NIU women’s tennis and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
