Feb. 5, 2010

DEKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois men's tennis squad will conclude its five-match road trip with two contests in Iowa over the weekend. The Huskies (1-4) will face Drake in Des Moines, Saturday at 2 p.m., and No. 58 Iowa in Iowa City, Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

NIU split a pair of matches with Detroit and Michigan State last weekend at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility in East Lansing, Mich.

"This weekend will mark another challenge for our guys," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "Iowa is a team that will certainly fare well in the Big Ten, and Drake has historically been at or near the top of the Missouri Valley Conference.

"We had a good week of practice, and focusing on getting better in doubles continues to be our primary effort. The guys are buying into the system, and starting to figure out what it takes to compete at this level. I think we'll fare well, and continue to improve."

Fisher collected his first career win and freshman Maximilian Phillips and sophomore Roman Turtygin both picked up their first-career singles victories in the Huskies' 4-3 victory over Detroit Friday, Jan. 29. NIU then dropped a 7-0 decision to Michigan State Saturday morning.

Playing at No. 3 singles, senior Javier Bernabe collected his third singles victory of the spring season against Detroit, and is currently tied with freshman Maksym Bartiuk for the team lead.

Drake will open the spring dual season Saturday when they host NIU at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center. The Bulldogs recently hosted the Missouri Valley Conference Individuals, Jan. 22-24, and captured a pair of singles championships.

Drake's doubles pairing of junior Mauricio Ballivian and sophomore Cesar Bracho entered the spring season ranked second in the region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. In addition, Bracho was ranked 13th in singles play and Ballivian checked in at No. 18.

No. 58 Iowa (1-1) will host Memphis Thursday in their home opener before the Huskies come to town. Earlier this week, the Hawkeyes opened their spring schedule at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Tournament in Waco, Texas and split a pair of matches with No. 6 Baylor (L, 7-0) and No. 66 Texas A&M Corpus Christi (W, 4-2).

The Huskies last played Drake in 2007 when the Bulldogs posted a 7-0 victory in Des Moines. Last season, NIU dropped a 6-1 decision at Iowa.