MEN'S COLLEGE TENNIS---Northern Illinois University vs. University of Toledo / at DeKalb, IL / Anderson Hall Courts / Mid-American Conference Match / Sunday / April 14, 2002

FINAL SCORE: NORTHERN ILLINOIS 5, TOLEDO 2

Singles
1. Raymond van Wasbeek (NIU) d. Dipesh Rao (UT) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
2. Pete Baghdati (UT) d. Juan Pablo Barriga (NIU) 6-4, 7-5, 10-6
3. Khalid Al Nabhani (UT) d. Erick Martinez (NIU) 6-1, 2-6, 6-1
4. Aaron Forsberg (NIU) d. Tony Tran (UT) 6-3, 7-5
5. Jon Perlman (NIU) d. Mirsad Begic (UT) 6-3, 6-3
6. David Pickel (NIU) d. Todd Wojtkowski (UT) 6-4, 0-6, 6-1

Doubles
1. Van Wasbeek/Forsberg (NIU) d. Baghdati/Llewellyn (UT) 8-5
2. Barriga/Martinez (NIU) d. Tran Al Nabhani (UT) 8-5
3. Perlman/Paul Glendenning (NIU) d. Begic/Rao (UT) 8-4

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HUSKIE MEN'S TENNIS CLOSES OUT HOME SEASON IN STYLE WITH 5-2 VICTORY OVER TOLEDO
DeKALB, IL - Jon Perlman probably couldn't have drawn it up any better. The Northern Illinois University senior posted a win in both singles and doubles against his hometown University to lead his squad to a Mid-American Conference victory here Sunday (April 14). With the 5-2 win over the University of Toledo, Northern Illinois is now 12-8 overall and 2-2 in league action with one more regular season match to play while UT falls to 9-10 on the season.

Perlman (Toledo, OH) set the tone for NIU, teaming with freshman Paul Glendenning (Rockford / Guilford) for an 8-4 in No. 3 doubles. Then, after Northern Illinois swept the doubles point, Perlman was the first Huskie off the court, handling UT's Mirsad Begic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.

"This was Jon's last match at home and I know he wanted to perform well," NIU head coach Steven Rodecap said. "He got off to a great start in singles and he really set the tone for the day. It was nice to see him play so well on Senior Day."

In other singles action, No. 1 player Raymond van Wasbeek (Vaassen, Netherlands / RSG de Springborn) bounced back after Saturday's (April 13) setback to defeat Toledo's Dipesh Rao, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. The win for the Dutchman was his 17th of the season, just two away from his personal high of 19 set last season.

Aaron Forsberg (Moline) joined his doubles partner in the win column, defeating Tony Tran in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. With the win, the sophomore evened his season's record at 11-11. Meanwhile, freshman David Pickel (Highland Park) kept pace with van Wasbeek for the team lead in victories as he improved his season's mark to 17-9 with a 6-4, 0-6, 6-1, win over Todd Wojtkowski in No. 6 singles.

"We played pretty good doubles this week and that is something we have been working on," added Rodecap. "We now have five days to prepare for the last match of the season at Western Michigan. It is a big match for us and we need to come out prepared."

Northern Illinois will head to Kalamazoo, MI, for the aforementioned showdown with Western Michigan on Saturday (April 20). The MAC finale is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on the WMU campus.

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