Men's Tennis | October 22
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Three singles victories in the consolation draw highlighted the final day of play at the ITA Midwest Regionals for the Northern Illinois University men's tennis team at the Atkins Tennis Center on Saturday (Oct. 22). The Huskies advanced five players into the tournament's main draw, where they took on some of the best players in the country.
"We played our best today, Mikael (Vollbach) and Iker (Gaztambide Arrastia) played pros today, it was a really tough first round draw," said NIU head coach
Patrick Fisher. "As for the others both Roger (
Cheng En Tsai) and Oliver (Valentinsson) had plenty of chances to get thru and didn't capitalize.
"I was really happy with Roger, Mikael and Oliver getting bounce back wins in their second match. Overall, this was an outstanding showing from our young kids. To have three doubles teams upset top seeds and two make it to the Round of 16 was awesome. Not to mention having five guys into the main draw in singles. A great, great weekend that will help these young kids believe they can play some big time ball."
In the first round of the main draw, three of the five Huskies competing found themselves facing seeded opponents.
Iker Gaztambide Arrastia fell to top-seed JJ Tracy of Ohio State, number three seed Andrew Fenty of Michigan topped
Mikael Vollbach and sixth-seeded Gavin Young of Northwestern downed
Christopher Norlin.
Each of NIU's other two first round matches went three sets. Wisconsin's Jared Pratt outlasted
Cheng En Tsai, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, while Natan Spear of Northwestern defeated
Oliver Valentinsson, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Three Huskies went on to win their matches in the consolation round. Valentinsson defeated Marko Galic of Toledo, 6-2, 6-3, Vollbach beat Marquette's Stefan Dragovic, 6-4, 6-3, and En Tsai scored a 6-4, 7-6 victory against Leon Huck of DePaul.
NIU will conclude the fall season at the MAC Indoor Invite, Nov. 4-6, in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Main Draw Round of 64
Gavin Young (Michigan) def.
Christopher Norlin (NIU) 6-1, 6-2
Natan Spear (Northwestern) def.
Oliver Valentinsson (NIU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
Jared Pratt (Wisconsin) def.
Cheng En Tsai (NIU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
JJ Tracy (Ohio State) def.
Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU) 6-2, 6-0
Andrew Fenty (Michigan) def.
Mikael Vollbach (NIU) 6-0, 6-0
Consolation Round
Brian Bilsey (Notre Dame) def.
Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU) 5-2, ret.
Arjun Honnappa (Western Michigan) def.
Christopher Norlin (NIU) 6-3, 6-2
Oliver Valentinsson (NIU) def. Marko Galic (Toledo) 6-2, 6-3
Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Stefan Dragovic (Marquette) 6-4, 6-3
Cheng En Tsai (NIU) def. Leon Huck (DePaul) 6-4, 7-6 (4)
