March 22, 2012

DeKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois opens Mid-American Conference play Friday afternoon as the Huskies head to Kalamazoo, Mich. to take on Western Michigan. Northern Illinois is coming off of a flawless spring break (8-0) that improved the team to 14-5.

The Huskies took on North Carolina Central and Quinnipiac March 12 in Orlando, Fla. and defeated both 6-1. The following day, NIU swept Youngstown State, 7-0, and dropped Bucknell, 6-1. Several of the Huskies had career-day performances as Dor Amir and Axel Lagerlof both finished 4-0 in singles and doubles to cap their week at 8-0.

Frederic Cadieux and Maximilian Phillips finished 7-1, going 4-0 in singles and suffering their only loss at No. 3 doubles against Bucknell, while Roman Turtygin finished 5-3, including a stellar 3-1 in singles play at No. 1.

For his perfect week, Lagerlof was named the Mid-American Conference’s Player of the Week for the second time this season. It is NIU’s third award of the season and the second-straight as Amir won distinction last week.

The Broncos are 11-7 in 2012 and are a perfect 10-0 in Kalamazoo. Western Michigan has been the team to beat in the MAC for most of the decade as the team won the conference tournament from 2001-2010, falling in last season’s final to Ball State. All-time, NIU trails WMU in the series 10-29. Head Coach Patrick Fisher began his coach career at Western Michigan, helping guide the team to the 2004 MAC Tournament Championship.

Northern Illinois will return home next weekend for a pair of non-conference contests, hosting Saint Louis March 31 and Bradley April 1.