DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team split a pair of matches on Saturday against Drake and Tennessee Tech as they opened the dual match portion of their season. The Huskies dropped a 4-0 decision to the Drake Bulldogs in the morning before bouncing back with a dramatic, 4-3 victory over Tennessee Tech in the afternoon. 

"We played two really good teams today, both won their conference (last year) and made NCAAs," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "I give our guys credit, they fought so hard today and I'm so impressed with how we played back-to-back at this level. Our fitness has always been a trademark of our program and our guy came back from break ready to go."

In the first match of the day against Drake, the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion and preseason favorite in the Summit League, NIU dropped the matches at one and two doubles to give the first point to the Bulldogs. 

In the singles, Drake earned wins at one, five and four to clinch the match, the three other matches were not finished. At number three, senior Georg Lundkvist (Linkoping, Sweden/Lindkopings Kommun) had a 6-4, 4-5 lead over Barny Thorold when the matches were stopped. 

NIU bounced back with a 4-3 victory over the reigning Ohio Valley Conference champions, Tennessee Tech, later in the day. 

The Huskies won the doubles point as Lundkvist and sophomore Bor Schweiger Muzar (Crnomelj, Slovenia/Gimnm) cruised to a 6-0 win at number two before senior Eric Marbach (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) and freshman Kristopher Ortega (Homer Glen, Ill./Seton Home Study School) outlasted Eduardo Mena and Riku Kubota, 7-6, at number one to clinch the point. 

Mena took the first singles point at number one to even the match for Tennessee Tech. Ortega then got the Huskies on the board in singles with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Kubota at number four. 

Tennessee Tech evened the contest back up with a win by Jorge Alfonzo at number two before freshman Victor Spolidorio (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) earned a 6-2, 7-5 win at number six to get the Huskies within a point of the win. 

After Tennessee Tech's Wencesiao Albin was victorious at number three, the match came down to fifth singles where senior Tom Hjertonsson (Gothenburg, Sweden/Akademi Båstad Gymnasium) outlasted Gonzalo Garcia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, to give the Huskies the victory. 

NIU will now return home on Thursday, Jan. 25, when the Huskies host Wisconsin-Whitewater and Cardinal Stritch. 

Drake 4, NIU 0

Singles 
1. Vinny Gillespie (DU) def. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Eric Marbach (NIU) vs. Tom Hands (DU) 6-7, 2-3 unfinished
3. Georg Lundkvist (NIU) vs. Barny Thorold (DU) 6-4, 4-5 unfinished
4. Ben Clark (DU) def. Kristopher Ortega (NIU) 6-2, 7-6
5. Ben Wood (DU) def. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) 6-3, 6-1
6. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) vs. Freddie Powell (DU) 5-7, 4-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 5, 4

Doubles 
1. Vinny Gillespie/Barny Thorold (DU) def. Eric Marbach/Kristopher Ortega (NIU) 6-2
2. Ben Clark/Ben Wood (DU) def. Georg Lundkvist/Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) 6-3
3. Tom Hands/Finley Hall (DU) vs. Victor Spolidorio/Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) 4-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2

NIU 4, Tennessee Tech 3

Singles
1. Eduardo Mena (TT) def. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU), 6-0, 6-1
2. Jorge Alfonzo (TT) def. Eric Marbach (NIU), 6-3, 6-4
3. Wencesiao Albin (TT) def. Georg Lundkvist (NIU), 6-4, 7-6
4. Kristopher Ortega (NIU) def. Riku Kubota (TT), 6-3, 6-0
5. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) def. Gonzalo Garcia (TT), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Victor Spolidorio (NIU) def. Arthur Justo (TT), 6-2, 7-5

Order of finish: 1, 4, 2, 6, 3, 5

Doubles
1. Eric Marbach/Kristopher Ortega (NIU) def. Eduardo Mena/Riku Kubota (TT), 7-6
2. Georg Lundkvist/Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) def. Jorge Alfonzo/Gonzalo Garcia (TT), 6-0
3. Victor Spolidorio/Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) vs. Marc Mila/Wencesiao Albin (TT), 6-6 unfinished

Order of finish: 2, 1