ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team defeated Creighton, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon at Boylan Tennis Center in its first home match of the season. The Huskies won the doubles point and picked up four singles victories as they improved to 2-4 on the season. 

"I was really happy with doubles how we played aggressive and with great energy," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "In singles we continue to struggle at the bottom. We expect to be rock solid at the bottom and right now we take one step forward two steps back, so it is hard to create momentum."

In the doubles, senior Eric Marbach (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) and sophomore Kristopher Ortega (Homer Glen, Ill./Seton Home Study School) topped Mac Mease and Stratton Brown at number one, 6-1, while freshman David Pata (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) and junior Shao-Yu Yu (Taipei, Taiwan/Jiang Guo High School) were victorious at number three, 6-1, over Joe Hoff and Armando Gandini to give the Huskies the point. 

NIU then had a trio of straight set wins in the singles at two through four, along with a three-set win at number five. Ortega bettered Brown at number two, 7-6, 6-0, Pata was a winner over Gandini at number three, 6-2, 6-2 and junior Bor Schweiger Muzar (Crnomelj, Slovenia/Gimnm) earned a 6-3, 6-2 win over Jose Oscar Diaz at number four. 

At number five, freshman Mikko Malinen (Malmo, Sweden) outlasted Daniel Lopez-Ray, 7-6, 3-6, 10-6. 

NIU will return to action with a pair of matches on Sunday, February 3, with a pair of matches in Normal, Ill. The Huskies will meet Illinois State at 11 a.m., and UMKC at 4 p.m. 

NIU 5, Creighton 2

Singles
1. Nick Campbell (Creighton) def. Eric Marbach (NIU) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
2. Kristopher Ortega (NIU) def. Stratton Brown (Creighton) 7-6, 6-0
3. David Pata (NIU) def. Armando Gandini (Creighton) 6-2, 6-2
4. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) def. Jose Oscar Diaz (Creighton) 6-3, 6-2
5. Mikko Malinen (NIU) def. Daniel Lopez-Rey (Creighton) 7-6, 3-6, 10-6
6. Mac Mease (Creighton) def. Victor Spolidorio (NIU) 6-7, 6-2, 12-10

Doubles
1. Eric Marbach/Kristopher Ortega (NIU) def. Mac Mease/Stratton Brown (Creighton) 6-1
2. Mikko Malinen/Victor Spolidorio (NIU) led Nick Campbell/Daniel Lopez-Rey (Creighton) 5-1 unfinished
3. David Pata/Shao-Yu Yu (NIU) def. Joe Hoff/Armando Gandini (Creighton), 6-1