April 19, 2006

DeKalb, IL -- Although Wednesday's (April 19) men's tennis match was a non-conference affair, both teams were certainly in need of some positive late-season momentum with league tournaments just weeks ahead.

Fortunately for Northern Illinois University, it was the Huskies who gained a fifth victory for the year as NIU chalked up a 5-2 triumph over Chicago State University at the NIU West Campus Tennis Courts. CSU's Cougars, who were fresh off a weekend in which they won two of three contests, saw their record dip to 4-16 while the host Huskies ended a four-game skid and improved to 5-12 heading into Saturday's (April 22) regular-season and home finale.

Of course, Northern Illinois has its hands full for that portion of the Huskie Sports Extravaganza as perennial Mid-American Conference powerhouse Ball State University visits for a 1 p.m. match. That contest, which starts at the same time as NIU's Mid-Am baseball meeting with Central Michigan University at nearby Ralph McKinzie Field, serves as a prelim for the Cardinal-Black Intrasquad Spring Football Scrimmage slated to start at 3 p.m. at Huskie Stadium. The day-long menu of Northern Illinois athletics then concludes with a 6 p.m. MAC softball meeting at Mary M. Bell Field between NIU and the University at Buffalo.

"Obviously it's always good to get a win, but it was also a plus to get some positive momentum going into such a tough assignment as Ball State," NIU coach Pontus Hiort said. "We played well in doubles in the Nos. 1 and 3 positions, but didn't quite get going at No. 2. Singles was in many ways the same story, solid in some positions and not quite strong enough at others, just like it's been all season. We simply need to get everyone playing really well at the same time. Saturday would be a great time to have that happen."

The Huskies' top doubles duo of Brian Livingston (Skokie, IL / Niles North) and Alex Friesen (Vancouver, British Columbia / Burnaby Central) chalked up a dominating 8-1 victory while the No. 3 tandem of Diego Zegarra-Ballon (Lima, Peru / Markham College Prep) and Adam Ford (Grand Rapids, MI / Forest Hills Central) added an 8-4 triumph to give NIU the doubles point for a 1-0 lead.

Livingston followed up with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph at the top of the singles line-up while Zegarra-Ballon added a 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 5 position. Northern Illinois also picked up a point at No. 4 singles where David Katz (Glendale, WI / Nicolet) was a solid 6-3, 6-2 victor with Alfonso Monroy (Mexico City, Mexico / Colegio Aleman) completing the home side's scoring with his 6-3, 7-5 triumph at No. 6.

In addition to hoping for a sixth victory, Northern Illinois would like to improve on a 1-3 league ledger against a Ball State that is steaming toward its 19th MAC regular season title. Ranked No. 74 in the nation, the Cardinals bring records of 17-6 and 4-0 after blanking (7-0) MAC affiliate member Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and scoring a 4-3 upset of No. 52-ranked Western Michigan University. After Ball State, the Huskies head to Toledo, OH, for the league championship tournament set for April 27-29.

MEN'S COLLEGIATE TENNIS -- Chicago State University at Northern Illinois University / at DeKalb, IL / NIIU's West Campus Tennis Courts / Mid-American Conference dual / Wednesday / April 19, 2006

NORTHERN ILLINOIS 5, CHICAGO STATE 2 (at DeKalb, IL / NIU's West Campus Tennis Courts)

Doubles: No. 1 -- Brian Livingston / Alex Friesen (NIU) def. Jonathan Sutjaidi / Prabowo Imanuel (CSU) 8-1 No. 2 -- Prakoso Imanuel / Dejan Avramovic (CSU) def. David Katz / Alex Monroy (NIU) 8-3 No. 3 -- Diego Zegarra-Ballon / Adam Ford (NIU) def. Toni Todoric / Abram Mamahit (CSU) 8-4

Singles No. 1 -- Brian Livingston (NIU) def. Prabowo Imanuel (CSU) 6-2, 6-1 No. 2 -- Jonathan Sutjaidi (CSU) def. Alex Friesen (NIU) 6-3, 6-2 No. 3 -- Prakoso Imanuel (CSU) def. Adam Ford (NIU) 6-4, 6-3 No. 4 -- David Katz (NIU) def. Toni Todoric (CSU) 6-2, 6-2 No. 5 -- Diego Zegarra-Ballon (NIU) def. Abram Mamahit (CSU) 6-3, 6-2 No. 6 -- Alfonso Monroy (NIU) def. Dejan Avramovic (CSU) 6-3, 7-5

Records to Date: NIU now 5-12 overall (1-3 in the MAC) / CSU now 4-16 Next Huskie Match: Saturday / April 22 -- Ball State University at Northern Illinois University, 1 p.m.

(For further information, please contact Steve Nemeth) --NIU--