DEKALB, Ill. -- The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team travels to Kalamazoo, Mich., this weekend to compete in the Mid-American Conference Championship. The Huskies are the number three seed in the tournament and will open play in the quarterfinals against sixth-seeded Binghamton on Friday morning, April 19, at 9 a.m. CT.
NIU closed out the regular season last Sunday (April 14) with a 6-1 win at Toledo as the Huskies improved to 11-11 overall and 3-4 in conference matches.
Freshmen
Mikko Malinen (Malmo, Sweden) and
David Pata (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) each have posted 13-8 dual match records this season, with Pata recording a team-best 20 wins overall. Malinen and sophomore
Victor Spolidorio (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) each have 17 total singles victories this year while senior
Eric Marbach (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) has 16 wins.
In doubles, Pata has paired with junior
Bor Schweiger Muzar (Crnomelj, Slovenia/Gimnm) to record a 9-2 mark in dual matches this season, which includes a 5-1 mark in conference matches. Also in doubles, Malinen and Spolidorio are the reigning MAC Doubles Team of the Week, becoming the third Huskie duo to claim that honor this season.
The Bearcats of Binghamton enter the conference tournament with an 8-14 overall mark and were winless in seven league matches. Binghamton was edged by Ball State, 4-3, in its final match of the regular season at home on April 14. Alejandro Pena has a team-high 12 dual match wins for the Bearcats, including an 8-2 mark playing at number six.
In their lone meeting of the regular season, NIU topped Binghamton, 6-1, on March 21 in Rockford, Ill. The Huskies won both of the doubles matches to finish and took five singles matches in straight-sets to down the Bearcats. NIU has won five consecutive matches against the Bearcats, dating back to a March 19, 2017 victory in Binghamton.
The winner of Friday's NIU/Binghamton quarterfinal will advance to face second-seeded Buffalo in the semifinals on Saturday, April 20, at 1 p.m. CT.
