Barring any unseen circumstances, this year’s Mid-Continent Conference men’s tennis tournament could be a runaway.

The Huskies are 4-0 in the Mid-Continent after winning three conference meets last weekend.

NIU (12-8 overall) had to battle through three 3-set matches to take a 6-2 decision over Valparaiso Friday. The Huskies’ No. 1 player Greg O’Neil overcame a tough first-set loss against the Crusader’s John Buetow and won 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2.

Number 4 Dustin Dobrin and No. 6 Paul Gill lost their 3-setters, accounting for Valparaiso’s two points. Dobrin has not had much success in 3-setters this year, losing this one despite taking the first set on a 9-7 tie-break win.

“Coach said I tried to put him away too quickly,” Dobrin said.

The Huskies shut out Eastern Illinois 6-0 and Wisconsin-Green Bay 9-0 Saturday.

“Our tough schedule outside of our conference was meant to benefit us for our conference season,” NIU coach Charles Merzbacher said.

No. 2 Mats Persson has been on a tear ever since being moved down from No. 1. He has won four matches in a row convincingly. He took down John Dean of Valparaiso 6-1, 6-1, and might have bullied Jeff Streul into quitting with Persson leading 6-1, 1-0.

“(Streul) said he had shoulder problems,” Persson said, “but I don’t know.” Persson finished off the weekend with a 6-2, 6-0 drubbing of UW-GB’s Darin Allen.

Persson said his demotion didn’t bother him. “As long as everyone keeps winning I don’t care where I play,” he said

A consistent second serve, Persson said, is the main reason he is blowing people away. “I can go for more on my first serve,” he said, “because I have a lot of confidence on my second serve.”