March 24, 2007

Carbondale, Ill. - The Huskies men's tennis (4-7) team fell to intra state rival Southern Illinois (6-3) on Saturday in Carbondale by a score of 6-1.

NIU Sophomore Brian Livingston(Skokie, IL/Niles North) teamed with Junior Alex Friesen (Vancouver, British Columbia/Burnaby Central) to start the day off right for the Huskies in doubles action as they were able to take down SIU's Sanchez and Stankovic by a score of 8-6. The Huskies were not able to capitalize on the victory as SIU won the final two doubles matches to take the doubles point.

In singles action Livingston picked up the lone point for the Huskies with his number one singles win over Sergio Sanchez of SIU 6-3, 6-2. NIU then lost the final four matches of the day making the final score 6-1 in favor of SIU.

"We had a lot of chances but couldn't convert in doubles and it carried over into singles," said head coach Pontus Hiort of his teams match against the Salukis.

The Huskies will look to rebound against Western Illinois on Thursday, March 29 in their home outdoor opener at 3:00 pm in DeKalb.

Northern Illinois vs. Southern Illinois Complete Results

SIU 6, NIU 1

Singles

1. Brian Livingson (NIU) def. Sergio Sanchez (SIU) 6-3, 6-2

2. Felipe Villasenor (SIU) def. Alex Friesen (NIU) 6-3, 6-3

3. Hugo Vidal (SIU) def. Adam Ford (NIU) 6-4, 7-6

4. Rodrigo Lama (SIU) def. Jimmy Chu (NIU) 6-0, 6-1

5. Lucas Waked (SIU) def. Javier Bernabe (NIU) 6-0, 6-3

6. Nick Bauer (SIU) def. Alfonso Monroy (NIU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles

1. Ford/Livingston (NIU) def. Sanchez/Stankovic (SIU) 8-6

2. Villasenor/Waked (SIU) def. Friesen/Chu (NIU) 9-7

3. Lama/Vidal (SIU) def. Monroy/Bernabe (NIU) 8-4