DES MOINES, Iowa – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team fell in a pair of matches to open the dual match portion of the season on Saturday. NIU fell to defending Atlantic 10 Champion George Washington, 5-2, before dropping a 4-0 decision to host Drake. 

"It was not the results we wanted today, but we played two really good teams and there is a lot to take from these two games," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "Number one is playing with a lead, we were up in a lot of sets that we did not close out, and that would have given us some momentum. Number two is playing more disciplined in the pressure moments, we went away from our game plan and lost our courage which is disappointing. 

"Next week we have another really tough weekend and we're going to need our guys to take a step forward and show more courage."

In the opening match against the Colonials, freshman Bor Schweiger Muzar (Crnomelj, Slovenia/Gimnm) and senior Carlos Manzanas (Madrid, Spain/IES Principe Felipe) were 6-4 winners at number two doubles. The double point came down to the match at number three, but George Washington won 7-6 in the tiebreak over junior Louis-Philippe Hamel (Drummondville, Quebec, Canada) and junior Tom Hjertonsson (Gothenburg, Sweden/Akademi Båstad Gymnasium).

In the singles, Muzar earned a win at number three, 6-1, 6-4, over Chris Fletcher and Hamel claimed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jabari Stafford at number six, but George Washington took the other four matches in straight sets to earn the 5-2 victory. 

In the second match of the day against Drake, the Bulldogs took the doubles point with victories at one and two. Hamel and Hjertonsson held a 5-4 lead at number three when the match was called with the doubles point decided. 

Drake took singles victories at one, four and six to clinch the match, 4-0. The remaining three matches were called with the dual result clinched. The Huskies had taken the first set in two of the three unfinished matches as senior Eric Marbach (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley/University of Denver) led at number two, 7-6, 1-1, and Manzanas led as number five, 6-4, 3-5. 

The Huskies will return to the road next weekend as they travel to Omaha, Neb., for matches against Creighton and North Dakota on Friday, Jan. 27, as well as a matchup with Omaha on Saturday, Jan. 28.


George Washington 5, NIU 2
Doubles
1. Tverijonas/Reynolds (GW) def. Marbach/Lundkvist (NIU) 6-2
2. Muzar/Manzanas (NIU) def. Sala/Hadjigeorgiou (GW) 6-4
3. Tutecky/Stafford (GW) def. Hamel/Hjertsonsson (NIU) 7-6

Singles
1. Julius Tverijonas (GW) def. Eric Marbach (NIU) 7-6, 6-2
2. Chris Reynolds (GW) def. Georg Lundkvist (NIU) 6-3, 7-5
3. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) def. Chris Fletcher (GW) 6-1, 6-4
4. Dennis Afanasev (GW) def. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Jakub Behun (GW) def. Carlos Manzanas (NIU) 6-2, 7-5
6. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) def. Jabari Stafford (GW) 6-4, 6-4


Drake 4, NIU 0
Doubles 
1. Vinny Gillespie/Calum MacGeoch (DU) def. Eric Marbach/Georg Lundkvist (NIU) 6-2
2. Ben Stride/Ben Wood (DU) def. Bor Schweiger Muzar/Carlos Manzanas (NIU) 6-4
3. Louis-Philippe Hamel/Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) vs. Ben Clark/Tom Hands (DU) 5-4, unfinished

Singles 
1. Vinny Gillespie (DU) def. Georg Lundkvist (NIU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Eric Marbach (NIU) vs. Calum MacGeoch (DU) 7-6, 1-1, unfinished
3. Ben Stride (DU) vs. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) 7-5, 4-2, unfinished
4. Barnaby Thorold (DU) def. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Carlos Manzanas (NIU) vs. Tom Hands (DU) 6-4, 3-5, unfinished
6. Ben Clark (DU) def. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) 6-3, 6-2