March 23, 2011

Final Results

PEORIA, Ill. – In the team’s last dual meet before beginning conference play next week, the Huskies picked up wins in the top two singles flights, but fell, 4-2, to the Braves Wednesday afternoon at the David Markin Tennis Courts.

Northern Illinois (8-9) led off the day falling behind 1-0 after Bradley swept the doubles flights.

“We just came out sluggish which was the disappointing part about the day,” said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. “We had talked about this match during the middle of spring break and we knew it was going to be a big match for us.”

In singles play, Maksym Bartiuk and Axel Lagerlof attempted to right the ship with dominant performances. Lagerlof was moved into the top flight for today’s match and the decision proved to pay off as the freshman routed Hamish Weerasinghe, 6-1, 6-1, to extend his winning streak to seven. At No. 2, Bartiuk easily dispatched Juan Cuadrado 6-2, 6-2. On the season, the duo has been a one-two punch for the Huskies, combining for 25 victories.

Despite the two wins at the top, NIU was unable to attain wins in the other flights. Down 2-3, both Roman Turtygin at No. 3 and Bryant Poggensee-Wei at No. 5 pushed their matches to a third set, after each claimed their second set, 6-2. Poggensee-Wei went on to drop his final set, 6-0, against Justin Abrams, while Turtygin was down 4-1 in the third to Arthur Romanet, the two were unable to finish their match. The win moved Bradley to 11-5 on the season.

“We just weren’t able to get over the hump,” said Fisher. “We had chances, but we just couldn’t continue the momentum when we got into the third sets. That was the difference.”

The Huskies start MAC play on April 1 with a double-header as the team hosts Western Michigan and Chicago State at the Boylan Tennis Center in Rockford, Ill. Match times are set for 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. CT.

--NIU--