Men's Tennis | February 27

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team will play at Chicago State this Saturday and host Grinnell College on Sunday. NIU is gearing up for conference play, opening Mid-American Conference play at UIC Saturday, March 7.

The Huskies (7-2) split their matches last weekend, falling 7-0 to No. 21 Wisconsin on Saturday, Feb. 21 and bounced back for a 4-0 win over Marquette on Sunday, Feb. 22.

Lorenzo Leti Messina / Federico Scotuzzi were named MAC Doubles Team of the Week after clinching the doubles point against the Eagles and were ahead 5-3 against the Badgers before the match was suspended. Scotuzzi (Bergamo, Italy /, North Alabama) sealed the match against Marquette with a 6-3, 6-2 singles win and has now won four of his last five matches.

Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (Pamplona, Spain / Jesuitas) and Nikola Puntaric (Ljubljana, Slovenia /, Tulsa) have provided strong play for the Huskies from the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, combining for a 14-2 singles record and posting a 5-2 record in doubles. Iker Dellien Velasco (Trinidad, Bolivia /, UAB) has won three of his last four singles matches.

The Opponents
Saturday's match against Chicago State was originally scheduled for January, but was postponed due to weather. The Cougars (1-8) lost both matches last weekend to Drake and Saint Louis. Yurii Hoida has won four consecutive singles match with the last three coming at No. 1.

Grinnell College (6-1) are winners of four straight and will face North Central College on Saturday. Maxi Gutbezahl and Devansh Punjabi are each 6-0 in singles this dual season. Alex Doane / Gutbezahl are 5-1 in doubles.