DEKALB, Ill. – For the second time in a week, the Northern Illinois University men's tennis team will face Buffalo as the two teams meet in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Semifinals on Friday, April 27 in Buffalo. The match between the second-seeded Bulls and third-seeded Huskies is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.

The MAC Championship will begin with top-seeded, regular season champion, Western Michigan facing fourth-seeded Ball State at 9 a.m. CT. Both semifinals will take place at Miller Tennis Center in Williamsville, N.Y. 

Friday's semifinal winners will meet in the championship match on Saturday, April 28, at 12 p.m. CT, that match is scheduled to take place at Sweet Home High School, or Miller Tennis Center in the event of inclement weather. Live updates from this weekend's championship will be available via twitter @UBmenstennis.

NIU heads to the Empire State with a 15-7 overall record, 5-2 in conference play. The Huskies fell at home to Buffalo last Friday, 6-1, in their final match of the regular season. Five of the six singles matches went to a third set in an evenly matched dual between the two teams. 

Senior Eric Marbach (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) won his singles match against the Bulls; Marbach has 17 wins this season. Senior Georg Lundkvist (Linkoping, Sweden/Lindkopings Kommun) and freshman Kristopher Ortega (Homer Glen, Ill./Seton Home Study School) have each won a team-high 20 singles matches this season while senior Louis-Philippe Hamel (Drummondville, Quebec, Canada) has 19 solo victories. 

Buffalo comes into the weekend with a 12-9 overall record, including a 5-2 mark in MAC dual matches. The Bulls swept a pair of road matches last weekend at NIU, 6-1, and at Ball State, 5-2. Ethan Nittolo has a team-high 18 singles wins to lead Buffalo while Villhelm Fridell and Hao Sheng Koay each have 15 victories. 

NIU and Buffalo will be meeting in the conference semifinals for the second consecutive season, the Bulls downed the Huskies, 4-1, in last year's conference tournament. 

The winner of this weekend's MAC Championship will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which begins on Friday, May 11.