DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team will hit the road for the final time in the regular season on Sunday, April 8, when the Huskies travel to Binghamton, N.Y., for a matchup with the Bearcats. 

NIU (13-6, 3-1 MAC) and Binghamton will be meeting for the second time this season as the Huskies claimed the first meeting, 6-1, in the Mid-American Conference opener on March 16 in Rockford. 

Following last Saturday's 4-3 victory over Ball State, NIU sits in second place in the MAC at 3-1, just behind 3-0 Western Michigan. 

Freshman Kristopher Ortega (Homer Glen, Ill./Seton Home Study School) was named the MAC Singles Player of the Week for the second time following his 6-0, 6-0 win against the Cardinals. Ortega now has 12 dual match victories, one ahead of senior Louis-Philippe Hamel (Drummondville, Quebec, Canada) and sophomore Bor Schweiger Muzar (Crnomelj, Slovenia/Gimnm) and just two ahead of senior Tom Hjertonsson (Gothenburg, Sweden/Akademi Båstad Gymnasium). 

The Bearcats of Binghamton enter Sunday's match still looking for their first conference win after dropping a 6-1 decision against Buffalo on Friday. Kushaan Nath has eight dual match wins to lead the Bearcats, Nath picked up the lone point for Binghamton in its first meeting against NIU. 

Last season when the Huskies travelled to Binghamton (March 19, 2017), NIU pulled out a dramatic, 4-3 victory as Hamel won the final match to finish, giving the Huskies the victory. 

Following its trip to New York, the NIU men's tennis team will return home for each of its final two regular season matches, beginning on Friday, April 13, when the Huskies host Toledo.