March 11, 2014
PALM CITY, Fla. - The Huskies suffered their fifth loss of the season in their second stop during spring break against Southern Mississippi (8-7). NIU fell to the Golden Eagles on Tuesday, 4-3. The loss drops the team's record to 11-5 this spring.
NIU started this one with good collective performance in doubles play. Dor Amir and Axel Lagerlof notched their 13th win of the season, playing all of the No. 1 matches for the Huskies this year. They bested Juan Escobar and Paulo Alvarado in an 8-2 final. Frederic Cadieux and Simon Formont sealed the doubles point for NIU when they beat Brad Marriott and Alex Doleac, 8-6. This left the Huskies up 1-0 after doubles play.
Singles is where things started to go wrong for NIU. The Huskies did grab wins in the No. 2 and No. 3, but they weren't enough to hold on for the win. Cadieux won in the No. against Doleac 7-6, 6-3. He is now 12-4 in singles this spring. Lagerlof got his ninth victory of the spring when he beat Vasco Valverde in the No. 3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Formont dropped his match in the No. 5, taking his first loss of the spring season. He took on Chao-Yu Huang and fell 6-2, 6-3. It is Formont's only loss in 15 attempts, and his record still stands at a very strong 14-1 this spring. With two victories in singles, NIU fell just short of the needed four points to win the match, taking the 4-3 loss.
The Huskies have one more match to play during spring break. They'll face Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, March 12 at 3:00 p.m. CT in Boca Raton, Fla.
Southern Mississippi 4, NIU 3
SINGLES
1. Paulo Alvarado (USM) def. Dor Amir (NIU) 7-6, 6-4
2. Frederic Cadieux (NIU) def. Alex Doleac (USM) 7-6, 6-3
3. Axel Lagerlof (NIU) def. Vasco Valverde (USM) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Juan Escobar (USM) def. Jovan Zeljkovic (NIU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Chao-Yu Huang (USM) def. Simon Formont (NIU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Brad Marriott (USM) def. Carlos Manzanas (NIU) 6-1, 6-2
DOUBLES
1. Amir/Lagerlof (NIU) def. Escobar/Alvarado (USM) 8-2
2. Cadieux/Formont (NIU) def. Marriott/Doleac (USM) 8-6
3. Huang/Valverde (USM) def. Lynch/Zeljkovic (NIU) 8-3
