April 9, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Northern Illinois men's tennis team won the second match of its three-match road trip on Saturday, defeating IUPUI, 4-2. Roman Turtygin won the clinching match as the Huskies and Jaguars did not play doubles due to time constraints.
"We have been talking about winning close matches and finding a way to get over the hump and in this match we did," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "Hopefully this will parlay into our upcoming matches. It was a good effort by our guys, they fought hard. We are a little banged up but our guys didn't make excuses and they finished the job when they had the chance to do it."
Axel Lagerlof and Maksym Bartiuk swept the top two singles match in straight sets for NIU. Lagerlof defeated Ivan Mojsejev, 6-4, 6-1, at the top singles flight and Bartiuk was a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Nick Volz at number two. Lagerlof's win was his 15th of the spring while Bartiuk claimed his 14th singles victory.
The Huskies also won in straight sets at number six as Bryant Poggensee-Wei bettered Armando Diaz, 6-3, 7-6, pulling NIU within one match of a dual meet win.
"We knew that we were going to be in pretty good shape at the top of the lineup," said Fisher. "We just need someone else to come through for us and Bryant (Poggensee-Wei) did that, as he has done earlier in the year."
IUPUI won in straight sets at number four and earned a three-set victory in the fifth flight as the match came down to the match at flight three.
As a result of not playing doubles, an IUPUI victory at number three would have meant the Huskies and Jaguars tied the match, while a win by Turtygin would give NIU the dual victory.
Turtygin took the first set comfortably from Joel Modesitt, 6-2. Modesitt responded by claiming the second set, 7-6. With the dual on the line, Turtygin fell behind a break early in the third set but managed to come from behind to score a 7-5 win to give NIU the win. The victory was the 10th of the season for Turtygin.
"That was good for Roman (Turtygin) because he has been close in his last couple of matches and it was good for him to get back on track and win that match to close things out," said Fisher.
NIU will conclude its weekend on Sunday afternoon as it plays on the road at IPFW. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Northern Illinois 4, IUPUI 2
Singles
1. Axel Lagerlof (NIU) def. Ivan Mojsejev (IUPUI), 6-4, 6-1
2. Maksym Bartiuk (NIU) def. Nick Volz (IUPUI), 6-4, 6-0
3. Roman Turtygin (NIU) def. Joel Modesitt (IUPUI), 6-2, 6-7, 7-5
4. Chase Emerson (IUPUI) def. Maksym Lagutin (NIU), 6-3, 6-3
5. Bren Vasalakis (IUPUI) def. Tyler Stephens (NIU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
6. Bryant Poggensee-Wei (NIU) def. Armando Diaz (IUPUI), 6-3, 7-6
