April 24, 2010

Final Results

AURORA, Ill. - Freshman Mikhail Titov recorded a straight-set win at the No. 2 singles position, but the Northern Illinois men's tennis team dropped a 5-1 decision versus Ball State at the Vaughan Athletic Center in Aurora Saturday evening.

"We had our chances today, but lost two first-set tiebreakers, and it hurt us in the end," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "We were forced to cancel doubles due to the facility change, and Ball State took control after winning those tiebreakers. They are a much improved team from last year, and showed it today.

"I'm really encouraged with how Mikhail (Titov) and Roman (Turtygin) have played the last couple of weeks. They are gaining confidence at the right time, and we'll look for that to continue in the MAC Tournament."

Titov captured NIU's (10-12, 1-4 MAC) lone singles win, defeating Ball State's Cliff Morrison, 6-4, 7-5. Sophomore Roman Turtygin, playing No. 4 singles, stretched his match to a decisive third set, but fell in the final frame, 6-2. Freshman Maksym Bartiuk (No. 1) and senior Javier Bernabe (No. 3) both dropped tiebreakers in their respective opening sets, and eventually fell in straight-set decisions.

Northern Illinois will head to Muncie, Ind., for the Mid-American Conference Championships beginning Thursday (April 29). NIU will learn its seeding and first-round opponent Sunday.