DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team won its third match of the weekend on Sunday (Feb. 16) as the Huskies topped Eastern Illinois, 7-0, at Chick Evans Field House. NIU did not drop a point on the weekend as it improved to 5-4 on the season. 

"I'm certainly proud of finishing the weekend on a high note," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "We really played well this weekend and it showed. The last two weeks we really worked hard, we played aggressive, we were dominant and I'm happy to go into next weekend with some momentum and confidence. 

NIU won the doubles point thanks to wins by sophomore Mikko Malinen (Malmo, Sweden) and junior Victor Spolidorio (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) at number one, as well as senior Bor Schweiger Muzar (Crnomelj, Slovenia/Gimnm) and sophomore David Pata (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) at number two.

In singles play, senior Shao-Yu Yu (Taipei, Taiwan/Jiang Guo High School) made quick work of Christos Kyrillou at number three, winning 6-0, 6-1. Pata earned a 6-4, 6-2 win over Daniel Hernandez at number two and Muzar clinched the victory for NIU with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Freddie O'Brien at number one. 

At number four, Malinen scoreda  6-3, 6-2 victory over Pau Riera, Spolidorio was a 6-4, 6-2 winner against Thomas Wallace at number five and freshman Mikael Vollbach made it a clean sweep for NIU with a come-from-behind, 2-6, 6-1, 10-5 win at number six over Cameron Slabbert.

The Huskies will head to Green Bay, Wis., next weekend for the pair of matches. NIU will face Green Bay on Saturday, February 22, and Illinois State in a neutral site match on Sunday, February 23. 

"Green Bay and Illinois State are two very good teams and we are excited to see if we can continue to improve," said Fisher.

NIU 7, Eastern Illinois 0

Singles
1. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) def. Freddie O'Brien (EIU), 6-4, 6-3
2. David Pata (NIU) def. Daniel Hernandez (EIU), 6-4, 6-2
3. Shao-Yu Yu (NIU) def. Christos Kyrillou (EIU), 6-0, 6-1
4. Mikko Malinen (NIU) def. Pau Riera (EIU), 6-3, 6-2
5. Victor Spolidorio (NIU) def. Thomas Wallace (EIU), 6-4, 6-2
6. Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Cameron Slabbert (EIU), 2-6, 6-1, 10-5

Doubles
1. Mikko Malinen/Victor Spolidorio (NIU) def. Daniel Hernandez/Pau Riera (EIU), 6-2
2. Bor Schweiger Muzar/David Pata (NIU) def. Freddie O'Brien/Christos Kyrillou (EIU), 6-4
3. Gage Kingsmith/Gertjan De Wilder (EIU) def. Mikael Vollbach/Shao-Yu Yu (NIU), 6-2