DeKALB – NIU men’s tennis dropped its Sunday match 5-2 against the University at Buffalo. The Bulls controlled the whole match against the Huskies and snapped NIU’s 15-game first-double match winning streak.

The Huskies drop to 12-7 on the season and 4-3 in MAC play. The Bulls earned the victory after losing their previous matchup to the Huskies on March 10.

 Buffalo took four out of the six singles and two out of the three doubles en route to the victory.

BUFFALO START SINGLES OFF STRONG

The Bulls started off strong by taking the first three singles on the day. Junior Aleksandr Kalinin started the match off for the Bulls by defeating NIU senior Oliver Valentinsson 6-3, 6-3.

At the No. 2 position, NIU junior Cheng En Tsai took Buffalo fifth-year Simon Wibler to three sets in an electric singles matchup. Wibler defeated En Tsai in the single by set scores of 1-6, 7-6, 1-0.

Buffalo sophomore Cheng Tang matched up against NIU junior Mikael Vollbach. Vollbach started the single off strong, but Tang outlasted  Vollbach for the win by set scores of 7-5, 6-4.

After the Bulls took the first three singles, the Huskies rallied to take the No. 4 position in three sets. NIU freshman Iker Gaztambide Arrastia started the fourth single off with a 6-1 set win over Buffalo junior Finn Macnamara. Macnamara then took the second set, but Arrastia won 6-1 in the third set to take the single at the No. 4 position.

The Bulls then took the fifth single with freshman Theodoros Mitsakos defeating NIU junior Armin Koschtojan 6-4, 6-1. 

The Huskies then rallied again to take the sixth single, but it would not be enough to take the match win. NIU freshman Christopher Norlin took the first set from Buffalo sophomore Daniils Snaiders 6-4. Snaiders took the second set. In the third set, Norlin beat Snaiders in a 10-6 set win to take the win at the No. 6 position. 

BULLS TAKE OVER THE DOUBLES

Buffalo also started off the doubles hot, by taking the first two matches. Wibler and Macnamara started it off by facing NIU’s En Tsai and Vollbach. Wibler and Macnamara won in a close 7-6 matchup.

For the Bulls, Kalinin and Snaiders took the second double against NIU’s Koschtojan and Valentinsson by a score of 6-0.

The Huskies still rallied to take the last double match of the day despite Buffalo already securing the match. Arrastia and Norlin defeated Buffalo sophomores Yu-Shiang Huang and Tang 6-4.

UP NEXT

After being on the road for two straight (MAC) matches, the Huskies come back home to face the University of Toledo at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Nelson Tennis Center at the Chick Evans Field House.