Sept. 18, 2009

EAST LANSING, Mich. - In the first competitive fall tournament under the leadership of new head coach Patrick Fisher, the Northern Illinois men's tennis team came away with one singles and one doubles win in day one of the Michigan State Invitational in East Lansing, Mich., Friday.

Fisher's traveling lineup included senior Javier Bernabe and freshman Mikhail Titov, a native of Russia. With both playing in the top singles flight, Bernabe dropped a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) decision to MSU's Denis Bogatov. Titov answered with his first-career victory, a 6-3, 6-0 win over Detroit's David Stabley.

In doubles play, Bernabe and Titov dropped an 8-4 decision to Toledo's Leonardo Henriques and Terence Weigand, before posting a 9-8 win over Detroit's Patrick Troy and Russ Kovar.

"Overall, it was a pretty good day," said Fisher. "It was good to get out there in a competitive situation. Javier (Bernabe) battled in his match, and really had a chance to win the second set to extend things. There were some things he didn't capitalize on, and he'll fix that for the remainder of the weekend.

"Mikhail (Titov) played great. He's got a big serve and very strong ground strokes. He was a little nervous to start out, but made some nice adjustments and came up with his first win."

Play in day two of the MSU Invitational will begin at 8 a.m. CST Saturday.