April 16, 2011
TOLEDO, Ohio - The Northern Illinois men's tennis team fell on the road at Toledo to open a two-match road swing in the State of Ohio. The Rockets defeated the Huskies 7-0 and now have a 12-match winning streak.
"Toledo is a very good team," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "In singles, the first sets were the difference at one, two and three. We dug ourselves in too big of a hole, when we tried to climb back into it we were just too late. Toledo was just the better team, plain and simple."
The Rockets (23-8, 4-0 MAC) lost just six games in the first set of those top three singles matches. NIU (11-13, 1-3 MAC) responded with a much better effort in the second set of all three matches, pushing each one to the brink of a third set.
At number one, Maksym Bartiuk lost the first set 6-3 to Aleksandar Elezovic but came back to narrowly drop the second, 7-5. Axel Lagerlof was also edged 7-5 in the second set at number two after falling 6-2 in the first set to Nutthavit Likitkumchorn. In flight three, Roman Turtygin lost the second set 7-6, 9-7 in the tiebreaker, to Sven Burus.
"We got down and were never really able to get back into it," said Fisher. "When we did have a glimmer of hope in the second sets Toledo stepped up, did what good teams do, and put us away."
In doubles action, Bryant Poggensee-Wei and Tyler Stephens nearly pulled out a victory at number three, falling 8-6 to Mircea Dimofte and Bryant Dudzik.
NIU will be back on the courts tomorrow, April 17, as the Huskies travel to Cleveland State to take on the Horizon League champion Vikings. The match is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. CT.
Toledo 7, Northern Illinois 0
Doubles
1. Burus/Elezovic (TOL) def. Lagerlof/Turtygin (NIU), 8-2
2. Likitkumchorn/Sarria (TOL) def. Lagutin/Bartiuk (NIU), 8-3
3. Dimofte/Dudzik (TOL) def. Poggensee-Wei/Stephens (NIU), 8-6
Singles
1. Aleksandar Elezovic (TOL) def. Maksym Bartiuk (NIU), 6-3, 7-5
2. Nutthavit Likitkumchorn (TOL) def. Axel Lagerlof (NIU), 6-2, 7-5
3. Sven Burus (TOL) def. Roman Turtygin (NIU), 6-1, 7-6 (9-7)
4. Leo Sarria (TOL) def. Maksym Lagutin (NIU), 6-4, 6-4
5. Gursher Harika (TOL) def. Bryant Poggensee-Wei (NIU), 6-0, 6-0
6. Bryant Dudzik (TOL) def. Tyler Stephens (NIU), 6-2, 6-2
