KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team dropped a narrow, 4-3, decision to 44th-ranked Western Michigan on Saturday afternoon (April 24) at West Hills Athletic Club. The Huskies took the doubles point but the Broncos came back to win four singles matches and claim the Mid-American Conference championship.

"This match had every emotion you could have, both teams fought so hard and credit WMU they were a little better than us today," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "There is a lot to take from this season, we won a lot this year, but we didn't win a championship today and that's our expectation. With that being said, NIU Men's Tennis consistently plays for championships and so we take a look where we can get better, make adjustments where we think and go after it again, again and again."

An extremely tight doubles point went to the Huskies to open the day. Bor Schweiger Muzar and Mikael Vollbach topped Jannik Opitz and Zac Faveri, 6-4, at number one in the first match to finish. Western Michigan won the second match, 7-6, before NIU clinched the point with a 7-6 win, 15-13 in the tiebreak, as Kristopher Ortega and Oliver Valentinsson outlasted Peter Kuszynski and Joaquin Caballer.

In singles, Opitz earned a 6-2, 6-2 victory at number one and Fynn Lohse claimed a 6-2, 6-0 win at number four to give the first two singles points to Western Michigan. 

Mikko Malinen then scored a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Jackson Boone at number three as the Huskies evened the overall matchup. 

Western Michigan moved within a point of the overall win when Benjamin George finished a 7-6, 6-2 triumph at number six. 

The final two matches to finish each went three sets and Vollbach edged Arjun Honnappa, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, at number five to give the Huskies a third point as the overall dual would come down to the match at number two. In the final match to finish, Kuszynski earned a comeback victory, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, over Ortega as the Broncos held off the Huskies to claim the overall match win. 

NIU finishes the season with a 21-3 overall record, 7-2 in MAC play, Western Michigan improves to 22-1, 8-0 in conference, and claims the MAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. 

Western Michigan 4, NIU 3

Singles
1. Jannik Opitz (WMU) def. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Peter Kuszynski (WMU) def. Kristopher Ortega (NIU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Mikko Malinen (NIU) def. Jackson Boone (WMU) 6-4, 7-5
4. Fynn Lohse (WMU) def. Oliver Valentinsson (NIU) 6-3, 6-0
5. Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Arjun Honnappa (WMU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
6. Benjamin George (WMU) def. Victor Spolidorio (NIU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2

Doubles 
1. Mikael Vollbach/Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) def. Jannik Opitz/Zac Faveri (WMU) 6-4
2. Jack Randall/Fynn Lohse (WMU) def. Victor Spolidorio/Mikko Malinen (NIU) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Kristopher Ortega/Oliver Valentinsson (NIU) def. Peter Kuszynski/Joaquin Caballer (WMU) 7-6 (15-13)