NIU men’s tennis (6-6) defeated Eastern Kentucky University (5-10) in a highly contested 4-3 match.
“It’s a solid win for Huskie tennis,” said NIU men’s tennis head coach René Vidal. “Coach Cohen at EKU has done an amazing job building their program in record time and it was a tough match from start to finish.”
NIU won all two doubles matches to secure the doubles points before claiming three wins in singles to clinch the team victory.
NIU juniors Federico Scotuzzi and Iker Gaztambide Arrastia defeated Eastern Kentucky juniors Fernando Bulnes and Nuno Pinheiro in a 6-3 set.
Huskie freshman Chiao Bo Suo Nan and junior Iker Dellien Velasco took down Eastern Kentucky junior Adrian Contreras and senior Ryan Kitchin by a score of 6-3.
NIU sophomores Saul Berdullas and Sam Klein were up 5-3 against Eastern Kentucky sophomore Romeo Elfving Navarro and junior Kartik Parhar when the match was unfinished.
Dellien Velasco won by walkover, putting the Huskies up 2-0 at the beginning of singles matches.
Berdullas fell to Pinheiro in 6-2, 6-1 sets.
After a 6-2 first set, Bo Suo Nan fell to Contreras in a 7-6(7-0) second set.
Klein was defeated by Kitchin in straight 6-4, 6-4 sets.
Huskie freshman Pratyaksh dropped a 5-7 first set against Parhar before coming back to win in 6-0, 6-2 sets.
Gaztambide Arrastia edged out Bulnes in a three-set battle at the No. 1 singles spot to clinch the victory for the Huskies. After taking a 6-3 first set, Gaztambide Arrastia dropped a 6-3 second set to level the score. In the third set, Gaztambide Arrastia took a 7-5 victory for the win.
NIU will look to continue the momentum at 2:00 p.m. Friday at Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House against Chicago State University.
