NIU men’s tennis (5-4) bounced back after three-straight losses, picking up two wins in a doubleheader on Sunday. The Huskies first defeated the University of Marquette Golden Eagles (1-9) 5-2, before conquering the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks (6-2) in a 7-0 sweep.
UNIVERSITY OF MARQUETTE
The Huskies won two out of three of the doubles matches and took four out of the six singles matches against Marquette.
NIU men’s tennis head coach René Vidal commented on what allowed for the Huskies to bounce back.
“Just having that spirit of optimism and the energy and the enthusiasm no matter what the score is,” Vidal said.
NIU juniors Iker Gaztambide Arrastia and Federico Scotuzzi teamed up, defeating Marquette freshman Remi St. Laurent and junior Blake Roegner by a score of 6-2.
The Huskies’ sophomore duo of Sam Klein and Saul Berdullas was able to win a close match versus Golden Eagle freshmen Cyrus Ahmad and Kristian Blagoev, squeezing out a 7-5 victory.
Marquette avoided the sweep in doubles as junior Ivan Vazquez and freshman TJ Ryerson defeated NIU junior Iker Dellien Velasco and freshman Chiao Bo Suo Nan 6-3.
In singles play, Gaztambide Arrastia put NIU on the board first, defeating Roegner 6-4, 6-2.
Berdullas then added to NIU’s scorecard, winning a hard fought three set-match against Ahmad 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.
Bo Suo Nan proceeded to fall in a back-and-forth three set match to Blagoev 1-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Scottuzzi put NIU back on the board in the fourth match, defeating Ryerson in 6-3, 6-3.
Dellien Velasco extended the Huskies’ lead further, completing another win against St. Laurent 6-4, 7-5.
NIU ended their singles play with Klein falling to Marquette’s freshman Evan Glebov 7-5, 6-2.
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER
Against Whitewater, NIU won two out of the three of its doubles matches with the one non win remaining unfinished. In singles play, NIU took all six matches while showcasing top to bottom improvement.
Scotuzzi and Gaztambide Arrastia teamed up again to face Warhawk sophomore Theo Billson and senior Reuben Giorgio, which was left unfinished.
Berdullas and Klein picked up the Huskies’ first win against Whitewater junior Tyler Nelson and senior Payton Adkisson 6-3.
Dellien Velasco and Bo Suo Nan defeated Whitewater seniors Will Ulrich and Drew Van Fossen 6-4.
To begin singles play, Gaztambide Arrastia defeated Giorgio 6-3, 6-0.
In more singles play, Berdullas overcame Billson 7-5, 6-2.
Scotuzzi followed up by beating Van Fossen 6-4, 6-2.
Bo Suo Nan continued by rallying a comeback versus Warhawk junior Andrew Dumbauld 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Dellien Velasco outmatched Ulrich 6-2, 6-3.
NIU freshman Pratyaksh concluded NIU’s strong day by defeating Whitewater junior Parker Sprague 6-2, 6-2.
UP NEXT
NIU will look to build Sunday’s pair of victories, taking on DePaul University at 10:15 Friday in Chicago.
