March 13, 2010

Final Results

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Northern Illinois men's tennis team wrapped up its spring break trip to Orlando with a 6-1 dual match win over Bethune Cookman Saturday morning. The Huskies captured the decisive doubles point for the second-consecutive match, and recorded individual wins in the first-thru-fifth singles flights.

"It's great to wrap up what was a very successful spring trip with a victory," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "We battled some tough conditions; it was really windy today, and Bethune-Cookman presented a tough challenge, they really played tough.

"Everyone in our lineup found a way to get a victory, and that's great to see. I'm really encouraged about our improvement in doubles, and for us to go 3-1 on this trip is going to help our confidence going forward. We're really coming together as a team; the guys we added in January are finally adjusted to tennis at this level, and they deserve a lot of credit for our recent success."

The Huskies' (6-7) No. 3 doubles tandem of Javier Bernabe and Greg Czajkowski picked up its first win of the season, an 8-5 pro-set victory over BCU's Kristofer Martin and Yannick Jackson. Mikhail Titov and Roman Turtygin also carded an 8-5 win at the top doubles flight, securing the team doubles point a 1-0 lead for the Huskies heading into singles play.

Maksym Bartiuk (No. 1), Titov (No. 2), Turtygin (No. 3) and Maximilian Phillips (No. 5) all posted straight-set wins in singles play, while Bernabe outlasted Bethune-Cookman's Greg Streat in three-sets (7-5, 4-6, 10-8) to clinch the sixth team point. Czajkowski was defeated at No. 6 singles, 6-0, 6-1, securing BCU's lone team tally.

Northern Illinois did not face Boston University, as scheduled the previous two days, after being rained out twice. The Huskies will host Lewis University on Friday (March 19) beginning at 4 p.m.