DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team will conclude a stretch of 10 consecutive road matches on Saturday (April 8) when the Huskies travel to Toledo for a matchup with the Rockets. The match is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT, but could be moved to 4:30 CT if play is forced indoors by weather.

"This is an unbelievably big weekend for us, we really need to have a successful weekend," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "We are doing all the right things, we just aren't finishing, and that is the focus right now, being able to finish. That is really where it starts and ends with us."

The Huskies are coming off a close, 4-3 setback last Saturday (April 1) at Ball State which dropped NIU to 12-8 overall, 1-2 in Mid-American Conference play. Junior Georg Lundkvist (Linkoping, Sweden/Lindkopings Kommun) continued his strong play against the Cardinals, earning his third-straight singles win in conference play as he improved to 11-8 in dual matches this season. Junior Louis-Philippe Hamel (Drummondville, Quebec, Canada) also earned a singles win against Ball State as he improved to 9-4 in dual matches. 

NIU has claimed the doubles points in five consecutive matches dating back to a 6-1 victory over IUPUI on March 4. Lundkvist and senior Eric Marbach (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley/University of Denver) are a perfect 5-0 playing at number one in those matches and have a 14-5 record in dual matches as a pairing this season. 

"In doubles we are playing with good energy, we aren't second-guessing ourselves and we have a lot of confidence in doubles right now. Doubles is still a coin flip, we have been on the right side of it for a few matches in a row but you never know what can happen."

Toledo enters play this weekend with a 9-11 overall record, 0-3 in conference action. The Rockets will face Ball State prior to hosting NIU on Saturday. Toledo is led by Stjepan Sisko, who has posted a 13-5 mark in dual matches this season, playing all 18 matches at number one. Last season, the Huskies narrowly defeated the Rockets, 4-3, in Rockford (April 10). 

Following Saturday's match at Toledo, NIU will return to action on Wednesday, April 12, as the Huskies host Binghamton.