Feb. 6, 2010

Final Results

DES MOINES, Iowa - Senior Javier Bernabe and sophomore Roman Turtygin each posted singles wins, but the Northern Illinois men's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision versus host Drake at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday.

"Today was a frustrating loss, because we really felt like this was a match we could win, even despite our doubles inexperience holding us back a bit," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "We had chances in singles to close out sets, and fell short. That being said, Drake is a solid, experienced team. They been ranked the last four or five years, and those guys know how to win matches.

"Going forward, we know we're going to be able to compete with almost anyone we play in singles. We've got some very talented young guys. While that puts a lot of pressure on our top guys to play well in every match, that's part of it. We need to learn how to extend matches and play to our strengths, and hope that our doubles continues to improve."

Drake captured the doubles point with three regulation pro-set wins. Bernabe and freshman Mikhail Titov fell in an 8-1 decision at No. 1, and Maximilian Phillips and Turtygin fell by an identical score at the second doubles flight. At No. 3, Maksym Bartiuk and Greg Czajkowski dropped an 8-4 decision.

Bernabe posted a 1-6, 6-4, 10-8 win over Drake's Guilherme Marsiglia at No. 3 singles, and Turtygin outlasted the Bulldogs' Jonathan Hadash in a 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 11-9 decision. Bartiuk (6-4, 6-4), Titov (6-3, 6-2), Phillips (6-3, 6-3) and Czajkowski (6-2, 6-2) all fell in straight sets at the respective No. 1, second, No. 5 and sixth singles positions.

Northern Illinois will take on host Iowa in Iowa City, Sunday beginning at 1:30 p.m.