Feb. 15, 2009

Final Results in PDF Format

ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Northern Illinois men's tennis team cruised to victory in its first home dual-match of the season as the Huskies defeated in-state rival Bradley, 7-0, at the Clocktower Resort Sunday.

The Huskies have now won two straight matches against Illinois schools.

"We really came out with an energetic effort in doubles, and picked up some momentum," said NIU head coach Pawel Gajdzik. "It was great to win our first doubles point of the season, and it allowed us to play a little bit more relaxed in singles play.

"In singles, Pawel and Matt really did a nice job, picking up straight-set wins. We had a nice crowd for our first home match, and the clinic afterward was a success. The kids in attendance got a chance to learn some fundamentals, and to interact with our players. We'll continue to work on some things in doubles this week, and get ready for our matches next weekend."

NIU's No. 1 doubles duo of freshmen Jurica Grubisic and Pawel Poziomski posted an 8-6 win over their counterparts from Bradley and the Huskies also got victories from their No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions to jump out to a 1-0 lead entering singles play.

NIU's No. 2 doubles pairing of Matt Hansen and Ross VanderPloeg recorded an 8-4 win and Javier Bernabe and Shaun Stewart, playing at No. 3 doubles, tallied an 8-5 victory.

Despite losing the first set in a tiebreaker, Grubisic came back to post a 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, 10-4 victory in his No. 1 singles match. Due to the outcome of the dual-match already being decided, the players finished their match with a super tie-breaker.

Poziomski and Hansen picked up straight-set wins at the respective second and third singles flights and Shaun Stewart, playing No. 4, tallied a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

NIU's Javier Bernabe and Ross VanderPloeg recorded wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively, to claim a clean-sweep on the day for the Huskies.

The Huskies will finish their three-week dual-match stretch against in-state rivals Friday, when they host Eastern Illinois.

Tennis Match Results
Bradley vs. Northern Illinois
2-15-09 at Rockford, Ill.
(Clocktower Resort)

Northern Illinois - 7
Bradley - 0

Doubles
1. Jurica Grubisic/Pawel Poziomski (NIU) def. Milos Romic/Callen Fraychineaud (BRAD) 8-6
2. Matt Hansen/Ross VanderPloeg (NIU) def. Richard Robertson/Mitch Osborne (BRAD) 8-4
3. Javier Bernabe/Shaun Stewart (NIU) def. Evgeny Samoylov/Michel Macara-chvili (BRAD) 8-5

Singles
1. Jurica Grubisic (NIU) def. Milos Romic (BRAD) 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 10-4
2. Pawel Poziomski (NIU) def. Callen Fraychineaud (BRAD) 6-1, 6-1
3. Matt Hansen (NIU) def. Evgeny Samoylov (BRAD) 6-0, 6-2
4. Shaun Stewart (NIU) def. Michel Macara-chvili (BRAD) 6-3, 6-4
5. Javier Bernabe (NIU) def. Richard Robertson (BRAD) 6-3, 6-0
6. Ross VanderPloeg (NIU) def. Mitch Osborne (BRAD) 2-6, 6-0, 6-0