Men's Tennis | March 2

DeKalb, Ill. - The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team took down Southern, 7-0, and Omaha, 4-1, in a pair of dual matches Saturday to improve to 10-2 on the season. The Huskies have won eight straight matches dating back to January 26th.  

"Our intensity and focus were strong from start to finish," said NIU head coach René Vidal. "As I've said, this is a special group. We're looking forward to the opportunities ahead to show what we can do on a
national level."

The Huskies first dual of the day started at 10 a.m. as NIU swept Southern, 7-0, at the Nelson Tennis Center in Chick Evans Field House.

NIU took two of the three doubles matches to take the first point in the dual. Iker Gaztambide Arrastia and Christopher Norlin won at No. 2 doubles in dominating fashion, 6-0.

Armin Koschtojan and Norlin both won at No. 3 and No. 4 singles by scores of 6-0, 6-0, while Mikael Vollbach won at No. 1 singles 6-0, 6-2 to score the Huskies' fourth point to clinch the win.

NIU opened the afternoon match versus Omaha by winning the doubles point. Cheng En Tsai and Vollbach earned a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles, with Arrastia and Norlin clinching the point with a 6-4 victory in the No. 3 spot.

Playing at No. 2 singles in the afternoon match, Vollbach scored the Huskies second point in a tight match that went to a second set tiebreaker as he defeated Omaha's Ryoma Mishiro 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

Arrastia recorded NIU's third point with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles and Cheng En Tsai clinched the Huskie win by taking down UNO's Mikhail Korkunov 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.

The Huskies open Mid-American Conference play next weekend with matches at Ball State (Friday, March 8) and Western Michigan (Sunday, March 10). 

NIU 7, Southern 0
Singles

1. Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Lwazi Ngwenya (Southern) 6-0, 6-2
2. Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU) def. Barnabas Kalaba (Southern) 6-2, 6-1
3. Armin Koschtojan (NIU) def. Gabriel Inyang (Southern) 6-0, 6-0
4. Christopher Norlin (NIU) def. Jaiden Dominguez (Southern) 6-0, 6-0
5. Sam Klein (NIU) def. Southern WO
6. Luke Welker (NIU) def. Southern WO

Finish Order, 3,4,1,2,5,6
Doubles

1. Baranabas Kalaba/ Lawazi Ngenwa (Southern) def. Saul Berdullas/Armin Koschtojan (NIU) 6-4
2. Iker Gaztambide Arrastia/Christopher Norlin (NIU) def. Gabriel Inyang/Jaiden Dominguez (Southern) 6-0
3. Sam Klein/Luke Welker (NIU) def. Southern WO

Finish Order, 2,1,3
 
NIU 4, Omaha 1
Singles
1. Cheng En Tsai (NIU) def. Mikail Korkunov (UNO) 6-4, 6-2
2. Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Ryoma Mishiro (UNO) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
3. Quintan Van Wijk (UNO) def. Saul Berdullas 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (NIU) def. Ethan Gaubert (UNO) 6-4, 6-2
5. Armin Koschtojan (NIU) DNF 5-2 Bryan Kuntz (UNO)
6. Christopher Norlin (NIU) DNF 2-1 Mikel Garmendia (UNO)
Finish order – 2,4,5,3,1,6
Doubles
1. Cheng En Tsai/Mikael Vollbach (NIU) def. Mikail Kornukov/Bryan Kuntz (UNO), 6-2
2. Saul Berdullas/Armin Koschtojan (NIU) DNF Ryoma Mishiro/ Quintan Van Wijk (UNO)
3. Iker Gaztambide Arrastia/Christopher Norlin (NIU) def. Mikel Garmendia/Ethan Gaubert (UNO) 6-4
Finish order – 1,3,2