DES MOINES, Iowa – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team opened the dual meet season with a 4-3 victory at Drake on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18). The Huskies claimed the doubles point and then capped the victory with a win at number one singles in the final match to finish to start the season 1-0. 

"Drake has been a perennial top-30 team," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "Last year, we came up short 4-3 today we beat them 4-3. The difference was last year we weren't ready mentally, that was not the case this year, we didn't allow ourselves to get distracted with things out of our control, we kept our head when we needed it most and stayed the course/

"I'm so happy for our Bor (Schweiger Muzar) and Shao (Yu Yu) they played big for us today. We can build off this, but one good win does not make a season. We look forward to playing a very good Gonzaga team on Monday."

In the doubles, senior Bor Schweiger Muzar (Crnomelj, Slovenia/Gimnm) and sophomore David Pata (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) scored a 6-3 win at number one in the first match to finish. Drake won the match at number two before junior Kristopher Ortega (Homer Glen, Ill./Seton Home Study School) and senior Shao-Yu Yu (Taipei, Taiwan/Jiang Guo High School) earned a 6-4 victory at number three to give the Huskies the opening point. 

After Drake took the first singles match to finish at number four, NIU regained its lead when Yu finished off a 6-4, 6-0 victory over David Nyman at number six. 

The Huskies and Bulldogs split the next two matches to finish as well with Drake claiming a victory at number two before sophomore Mikko Malinen (Malmo, Sweden) closed out a 6-4, 7-6 victory over Matija Matic at number five. 

When Drake claimed the match at number three, the dual all came down to number one where Muzar came from behind to outlast Evan Fragistas, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. 

NIU will return to action on Monday, January 20, when the Huskies meet Gonzaga in Des Moines, Iowa. 

NIU 4, Drake 3
Singles
1. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) def. Evan Fragistas (Drake), 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
2. Oliver Johansson (Drake) def. David Pata (NIU), 6-3, 6-3
3. Finley Hall (Drake) def. Kristopher Ortega (NIU), 6-4, 7-5
4. Reid Jarvis (Drake) def. Mikael Vollbach (NIU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Mikko Malinen (NIU) def. Matija Matic (Drake), 6-4, 7-6
6. Shao-Yu Yu (NIU) def. David Nyman (Drake), 6-4, 6-0

Doubles
1. Bor Schweiger Muzar/David Pata (NIU) def. Reid Jarvis/David Nyman (Drake), 6-3
2. Oliver Johansson/Matija Matic (Drake) def. Mikael Vollbach/Mikko Malinen (NIU), 6-1
3. Kristopher Ortega/Shao-Yu Yu (NIU) def. Evan Fragistas/Luka Jankovic (Drake), 6-4