ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team had its six-match win streak snapped on Saturday as the Huskies fell to Butler, 4-3, on Boylan Tennis Center. NIU took the doubles point against the Bulldogs before dropped four of the six singles matches as Butler earned the one-point victory. 

"Extremely disappointing today, we played great doubles and got off to great starts in singles but gave away the game, this team works too hard to not finish and it's very disappointing," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "We need to learn from these situations or we will talking about what could have been. It's time to step up and get to the next level, being good is not what we strive for."

The Huskies won both the doubles matches to finish 6-3 as freshman David Pata (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) and junior Bor Schweiger Muzar (Crnomelj, Slovenia/Gimnm) teamed for the win at number two while seniors Eric Marbach (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) and Erich Schuette (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) claimed the victory at number three. 

In singles, Pata was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Thomas Brennan at number two and freshman Mikko Malinen (Malmo, Sweden) topped Ryan Roegner at number four, 6-1, 6-0. Butler earned straight sets wins at three and five, the Bulldogs then outlasted the Huskies in the two three-set matches, at one and six, to claim the 4-3 win. 

NIU will return to action on Sunday, February 24, as the Huskies host Green Bay in Rockford at the Boylan Tennis Center. 

Butler 4, NIU 3

Singles
1. Mason Dragos (Butler) def. Eric Marbach (NIU), 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
2. David Pata (NIU) def. Thomas Brennan (Butler), 6-4, 6-2
3. Aviv Ben Shabat (Butler) def. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU), 6-3, 6-4
4. Mikko Malinen (NIU) def. Ryan Roegner (Butler), 6-1, 6-0
5. Spencer Lang (Butler) def. Shao-Yu Yu (NIU), 6-4, 6-2
6. Adrian Mag (Butler) def. Victor Spolidorio (NIU), 6-7, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
1. Mikko Malinen/Victor Spolidorio (NIU) vs. Mason Dragos/Ryan Roegner (Butler), unfinished 
2. David Pata/Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) def. Adrian Mag/Aviv Ben Shabat (Butler), 6-3
3. Eric Marbach/Erich Schuette (NIU) def. Spencer Lang/Thomas Brennan (Butler), 6-3