He was serving the required year of ineligibility for transfer students to play tennis for NIU’s Coach Charles Merzbacher. Last Friday, his long wait paid off.

Gill accounted for all the Huskies’ points in their 7-2 loss to nationally recognized Wisconsin-Madison which is ranked No. 2 in the Midwest.

Gill defeated Brian Dunk at the No. 6 position 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 for his second singles win of the year. He went on to team up with Steve Senter to knock off the Wisconsin duo 7-5, 6-3 for the Huskies’ second match win.

“I played a smart match,” Gill said of his singles win. “Coach gave me some good advice during the change-overs. He told me to keep hitting the ball at his feet and he’ll miss.”

Despite the final score, the Huskies gave the Badgers a scare. Four matches went an extra set although NIU lost three. “We gave them a good run,” said No. 2 singles player Greg O’Neil. “We went in there with the attitude that we didn’t need to do anything special to give them a tough meet. We played within our limitations.”

“(Deer) knew what it took to win the last set because he’s such an experienced player,” O’Neil said.

The Huskies came back the next day and turned the tables on Indiana State, winning 7-2.

“Paul Gill is our top gun for the weekend. He was tough in a three-set singles win against Wisconsin and then teamed with Steve Senter for a win at No. 3 doubles,” Merzbacher said.