October 1, 2005

Huskie Men's Tennis Posts Trio Of Undefeated Flight Champions

Milwaukee, WI — On paper, the Northern Illinois University men’s tennis team registered more victories than losses during the Milwaukee Classic hosted by Marquette University.

However, NIU tennis boss Pontus Hiort viewed the weekend as simply an okay outing against competition from the host MU Warriors, plus Illinois State University and Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne (IPFW).

“Most of the guys played well, but it’s still early and this time of the season is all about making progress. I just believe they’re capable of more,” Hiort explained. “I’m always looking for our guys to come out on top every time they take the court.”

Two of the Huskies were able to achieve that goal in singles play as did one of the NIU doubles combinations. Diego Zagarra-Ballon (Lima, Peru / Markham College Prep) added three more wins — all straight set victories — to keep his singles ledger perfect for the season thus far. Freshman Brian Livingston (Skokie / Niles North) also went 3-0 although it took a 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 battle with Illinois State’s Djordje Vshokovic to stay unbeaten for the weekend.

Mark Tate (The Woodlands, TX / Oak Ridge), Alex Friesen (Vancouver, British Columbia / Burnaby Central) and dam Ford (Grand Rapids, MI / Forest Hills Central) all enjoyed 2-1 weekends while David Katz (Glendale, WI / Nicolet) was 1-2.

On the doubles end, Tate and Livingston went undefeated for the weekend while Katz and Zagarra-Ballon captured two of the three contests. Ford and Friesen were 1-2 in their matches.

“We had a little bit of a letdown in singles play on the last day, but overall the guys played pretty well. Winning more than you lose is always a good thing and the fact that Zagarra-Ballon remained unbeaten was really good,” Hiort noted. “He’s learning to win matches even when he’s not on his best game. Obvously Brian (Livingston) gained a lot of confidence going unbeaten in both singles and doubles.

The Huskies take a week off before returning toa ction with the Oct. 7-9 University of Wisconsin Invitational.

MEN’S TENNIS — Northern Illinois University at Milwaukee Classic / hosted by Marquette University / Non-Team Scoring Event / Friday-Sunday / Sept. 23-25, 2005

MILWAUKEE CLASSIC
(at Milwaukee, WI / Marquette University, host)
Non-Team Scoring Event
Results for Northern Illinois Players by Day:

Day One Results
Singles Competition
Mark Tate (NIU) def. Eigintos Vedriches (Marquette) 6-4, 6-1
Alex Friesen (NIU) def. Ian Kawas (Marquette) 6-4, 6-0
Brian Livingston (NIU) def. Stephen Shao (Marquette) 7-5, 6-2
Adam Ford (NIU) def. Brett Binkley (Marquette) 6-4, 6-3
Greg Sirotek (Marquette) def. David Katz (NIU) 6-7, 6-2, 6-1
Diego Zagarra-Ballon (NIU) def. Mario Lopez (Marquette) 6-2, 7-6
Doubles Competition
Tate / Livingston (NIU) def. Zilho / Gonzales (IPFW) 8-2
Ford / Friesen (NIU) def. Mitson / Jackson (IPFW) 8-2
Katz / Zagarra-Ballon (NIU) def. Nzudie / Jackson (IPFW) 8-3

Day Two Results
Singles Competition
Mark Tate (NIU) def. Nabil Mourad Zilho (IPFW) 6-2, 6-2
Alex Friesen (NIU) def. Landry Nzudie (IPFW) 6-3, 6-1
Brian Livingston (NIU) def. Tony Mitson (IPFW) 6-4, 6-2
Adam Ford (NIU) def. Daniel Jackson (IPFW) 6-2, 6-2
David Katz (NIU) def. Michael Chase (IPFW) 6-3, 6-1
Diego Zagarra-Ballon (NIU) def. Matt Muns (IPFW) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles Competition
Negrobat / Renard (Illinois State) def. Tate / Livingston (NIU) 9-8
Ford / Friesen (NIU) def. Beich / Link (Illinois State) 8-6
Vshokovic / Marinkovic (Illinois State) def. Katz / Zagarra-Ballon (NIU) 8-5

Day Three Results
Singles Competition
Yohann Negrobat (Illinois State) def. Mark Tate (NIU) 6-2, 6-2
Alban Renard (Illinois State) def. Alex Friesen (NIU) 6-4, 6-3
Brian Livingston (NIU) def. Djordje Vshokovic (Illinois State) 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
Luke Marinkovic (Illinois State) def. Adam Ford (NIU) 6-2, 6-2
Alfredo Lagarda (Illinois State) def. David Katz (NIU) 6-3, 6-2
Diego Zagarra-Ballon (NIU) def. Tim Link (Illinois State) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles Competition
Kawas / Vedriches (Marquette) def. Tate / Livingston (NIU) 8-3
Ford / Friesen (NIU) def. Binkley / Fleming (Marquette) 8-4
Katz / Zagarra-Ballon (NIU) def. Shao / van Lieshoud (Marquette) 9-8.