DeKALB — NIU men’s tennis (4-1) welcomed their first opponent this weekend, hosting the Southern University Jaguars (0-5) and taking a commanding 7-0 victory on Friday.
After securing the doubles point, the Huskies cruised in singles, dropping only one set.
“Our execution was excellent from start to finish,” said NIU men’s tennis head coach René Vidal. “One of our goals was to focus on serving more effectively, stepping in on returns, and the guys did a great job of doing that.”
At No.1 doubles, senior Iker Gaztambide Arrastia and sophomore Nikola Puntaric continued their strong doubles form with a 6-1 win over junior Lwazi Ngwenya and sophomore Mpho Leshoele.
Senior Iker Dellien Velasco and sophomore Chiao Bo Suo Nan took a 6-2 win over Jaguars’ duo of freshman Zachery Byng and sophomore Sebastien Byng to secure the doubles point.
Gaztambide at No. 1 singles defended his undefeated singles record at No. 1 singles, swiftly taking down Ngwenya in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2.
The Pamplona, Spain, native credited the result to solid serving and a switch of pace during his matchup.
“In doubles I felt he (Ngwenya) was playing better when I played faster so I tried to slow him down a little bit,” Gaztambide said. “It was the right move, he was just struggling the slower I played.
Puntaric strung together 6-2, 6–1 results over sophomore Sebastien Byng at No. 2, making it 3-0 for the Huskies.
At No 3 singles, sophomore Lorenzo Leti Messina locked up the NIU win after comfortably taking the first set 6-2 and then 6-3 in a competitive dual against Leshoele.
Dellien and Pratyaksh LNU kept the Huskies’ momentum going, taking straight sets against junior Gabriel Inyang 6-2, 6-1 and Zachery Byng 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively.
The Jaguars went down swinging in the final matchup between Suo Nan and junior Jaime Sigaque. The Taiwan native quickly took the advantage 6-2 in the first set before Sigaque narrowly took the second set via tiebreaker. Suo Nan prevailed in the final set 1-0 to complete the shutout.
UP NEXT
The Huskies will host a doubleheader against the University of Nebraska at Omaha at 10 a.m. and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House.
