Men's Tennis | April 11

ROCHELLE, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team landed a 4-1 victory over Ball State on Saturday afternoon. Seniors Iker Gaztambide Arrastia, Federico Scotuzzi and Iker Dellien Velasco were honored prior to the match.

The Huskies (17-7, 7-3 MAC) closed out the regular season winning two of its last three and will compete in the Mid-American Conference Tournament next weekend. The win over the Cardinals splits the season series, avenging a 4-3 loss in March.

"Our team performance was Senior Day worthy. Co-Captains Arrastia and Scotuzzi led the way in the doubles," said head coach René Vidal. "Overall, we were mentally tough in difficult weather conditions and look forward to meeting the moment next week in Buffalo."

NIU claimed the doubles point to open the match, the sixth time in the last seven outings. At No. 1, Gaztambide Arrastia / Scotuzzi locked in a 6-2 victory, followed by a 6-4 victory at No. 2 from Nikola Puntaric / Lorenzo Leti Messina.

The Huskies jumped on Ball State early in singles play with No. 63 Gaztambide Arrastia (Pamplona, Spain / Jesuitas) and Puntaric (Ljubljana, Slovenia / Tulsa) each claiming 6-1, 6-1 victories.

Ball State answered with a win at No. 6 to get on the board, but Leti Messina (Rome, Italy / North Florida) clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Jeremy Milette.

The final two matches were unfinished due to weather.

NIU caps its regular season with 12 home wins, the most in a single season since 2021 (13) and fourth most since 2005.

The Huskies will face Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament on Saturday, April 18 at 1 p.m. CT. The teams split the season series this spring.