Sept. 17, 2011

RIVER FOREST, Ill. - The Northern Illinois men's tennis team closed the River Forest Collegiate Invitational Saturday evening with great results from Maksym Bartiuk and Axel Lagerlof both finishing undefeated in singles competition through the tournament.

Bartiuk and Lagerlof both dominated their competition on day two, including doubles competition. Lagerlof teamed with Max Phillips and won their match 8-5 and Bartiuk and Maksym Lagutin won their match in 9-8 (7-0) fashion.

In singles, Bartiuk defeated Western Illinois' Patrick Hammers 6-3, 6-2 and Rodrigo Amaral of Belmont, 4-6, 6-2, 10-6. The defending Mid-American Conference Newcomer of the Year, Lagerlof took his first match against Chicago's Jan Stefanski 6-2, 6-1 and dropped SIU-Edwardsville's Morten Christensen 6-1, 6-1.

Lagutin played through his first match, dropping it 6-1, 6-1, but retired in the second set of his second match.

The men's tennis team will return to action Sept. 23-25 for the Drake Invite in the Des Moines, Iowa.

DOUBLES (Round 2):
Bartiuk/Lagutin (NIU) def. Hammers/Granger (WIU) 9-8 (7-0)
Lagerlof/Phillips (NIU) def. Stefanski/Ravella (UC) 8-5
Silva/Mussolini (BU) def. Wei/Li (NIU/UIC) 8-4

SINGLES (Round 3):
Maksym Bartiuk (NIU) def. Patrick Hammers (WIU) 6-3, 6-2
Axel Lagerlof (NIU) def. Jan Stefanski (UC) 6-2, 6-1
Renato Antun (BU) def. Max Phillips (NIU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
Nate Kirk (UIC) def. Maksym Lagutin (NIU) 6-1, 6-1
Rahul Kamath (UIC) def. Bryant Wei (NIU) 6-2, 6-1

SINGLES (Round 4):
Maksym Bartiuk (NIU) def. Rodrigo Amaral (BU) 4-6, 6-2, 10-6
Axel Lagerlof (NIU) def. Morten Christensen (SIUE) 6-1, 6-1
Krishna Rivella (UC) def. Max Phillips (NIU) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
Bruno Silva (BU) def. Maksym Lagutin (NIU) 6-0, retired
Stephen Washuta (SIUE) def. Bryant Wei (NIU) 6-3, 5-7, 10-8