Jan. 31, 2009

IOWA CITY, Iowa -

Final Results in PDF Format

Freshman Jurica Grubisic defeated a top-ranked Big Ten Conference singles player for the second time in three weeks, but the Northern Illinois men's tennis team (0-3) was outlasted by host Iowa, 6-1, at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center Saturday.

"We battled well, but we weren't able to take advantage of some of our closing opportunities in doubles," said NIU head coach Pawel Gajdzik. "We forced match point at No. 1, but didn't close out the match. We're still learning how to win in doubles, and that was evident today.

"You have to give credit to Iowa, they took advantage of their opportunities, and are a very good team. In singles, we competed well at certain spots, but Iowa came out and took charge of the match, especially at the bottom of the lineup."

Grubisic defeated the Hawkeyes' Christian Bierich in a three-set (6-4, 4-6, 6-3) decision. In other singles action, Pawel Poziomski, playing his first-career dual match, fell at the No. 2 flight, 6-1, 6-1.

"Jurica continues to dominate the top singles spot for us, and that's great to see." Gajdzik said. "He's improving every week, and proving to be a real force for us."

At No. 3, Matt Hansen battled in a 2-6, 6-0, 6-4 loss to the Hawkeyes' Reinoud Haal. Shaun Stewart, Ross VanderPloeg and Javier Bernabe all dropped straight-set decisions in the respective fourth-thru-sixth singles flights.

Iowa claimed the doubles point by in three hard-fought pro-set decisions. Grubisic and Poziomski dropped a 9-7 decision at the No. 1 slot, while Stewart and VanderPloeg (No. 2) were outlasted 8-6, and Hansen and Alfonso Monroy, teaming up at No. 3 doubles, fell by a score of 8-3.

The Huskies will travel to Western Illinois next Saturday (Feb. 7). The match is slated to begin at 2 p.m. in Galesburg, Ill.