BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team evened its record in Mid-American Conference matches as the Huskies claimed a 4-3 road victory at Binghamton on Sunday. The victory improved NIU to 12-7 overall, 1-1 in MAC play. 

"This conference is just so tough top-to-bottom, every match is just an absolute dog fight and I love playing in big games win or lose," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "Our guys fought so hard and battled all kinds of adversity, we did an awesome job of keeping our focus. Georg (Lundkvist) and Tom (Hjertonsson) did amazing leading us, they bring it every single day, those guys never take a day off."

Just as they did on Saturday against Buffalo, NIU got off to a good start, taking the doubles point. Binghamton won the first doubles match to finish at number two, but the Huskies bounced back with wins at one and three to earn the point. 

Senior Eric Marbach (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley/University of Denver) and junior Georg Lundkvist (Linkoping, Sweden/Lindkopings Kommun) topped Thomas Caputo and Kushaan Nath, 6-3, at number one and junior Tom Hjertonsson (Gothenburg, Sweden/Akademi Båstad Gymnasium) and junior Louis-Philippe Hamel (Drummondville, Quebec, Canada) clinched the points with a 6-4 victory over Frenk Kote and Viihar Shah at number three. 

The singles matches between the Huskies and Bearcats would prove to be very tight, with three of the six going to three sets. Wins at one and three for Binghamton gave the Bearcats a 2-1 lead, before Hjertonsson gave NIU its first singles win, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, over Valentin Bouchet at number four. Lundkvist followed with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Tiago Lourenco at number two, bringing the Huskies within a point of the match victory. 

A win by Binghamton at number five meant the dual would come down to the match at number six where Hamel captured a 6-3, 6-2 win over Inigo Saez to clinched the fourth point, and the win, for the Huskies. 

NIU will continue its road stretch to begin the conference slate when the Huskies travel to Muncie, Ind., to face Ball State on Saturday, April 1. 

NIU 4, Binghamton 3

Doubles
1. Marbach/Lundkvist (NIU) def. Caputo/Nath (BU), 6-3 
2. Cestarollo/Saez (BU) def. Muzar/Manzanas (NIU), 6-2
3. Hjertonsson/Hamel (NIU) def. Frenk Kote/Viihar Shah (BU), 6-4
Order of Finish: 2,1,3

Singles
1. Ludovico Cestarollo (BU) def. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU), 6-1, 6-4
2. Georg Lundkvist (NIU) def. Tiago Lourenco (BU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
3. Kushaan Nath (BU) def. Eric Marbach (NIU), 6-1, 1-6, 6-1
4. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) def. Valentin Bouchet (BU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Thomas Caputo (BU) def. Carlos Manzanas (NIU), 6-0, 6-4
6. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) def. Inigo Saez (BU), 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 1,3,4,2,5,6