Jan. 30, 2009

DEKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois men's tennis team will face its third-consecutive Big Ten Conference opponent Saturday, when the Huskies travel to Iowa City, Iowa to take on No. 59 Iowa at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex beginning at 1:30 p.m.

"Saturday will be another great challenge for us," said NIU head coach Pawel Gajdzik. "We wanted to start our season off with a strong non-conference schedule, so our guys could get experience heading into Mid-American Conference play. Iowa is a very solid tennis team, and will be opening its season against us.

"It will take a complete team effort for us to have a chance to get a win on the road. We need to build on some momentum that we gained against Wisconsin, particularly in singles play."

NIU is coming off last Sunday's 5-2 loss at No. 31 Wisconsin. Sophomore Matt Hansen and senior Javier Bernabe each picked up singles wins, but the Badgers captured the doubles point to help secure the dual-match victory.

Iowa, which will be opening its 2009 spring season against the Huskies, owns a 29-5 all-time series lead over Northern Illinois. The Huskies and Hawkeyes went head-to-head last season (Jan. 26, 2008), with Iowa claiming a 6-1 win.