NIU men’s tennis (9-2) hosted and swept Grinnell College (7-2) 7-0 on Sunday in a brief detour from their seven-match road stretch. The Huskies coasted to a doubles sweep before picking up six more points in singles matches.
Despite the sweep, the Huskies faced a tough Pioneers side, securing two comeback wins and multiple single-break sets to extend their winning streak to three matches.
“Hats off to Coach Hasenyager. Grinnell has a solid team, they competed really hard,” head coach René Vidal said. “They have strong character and it was our pleasure to host them.”
DOUBLES
Senior Iker Gaztambide Arrastia and sophomore Nikola Puntaric comfortably took down senior duo Albert Bostoen and Lucas Willett 6-1 at No. 1 doubles.
NIU sealed the point after senior Iker Dellien Velasco and sophomore Chiao Bo Suo Nan dished out a 6-3 result against freshman Maximiliano Gutbezahl and sophomore Alex Doane.
At No. 3 doubles, Federico Scotuzzi and sophomore Lorenzo Leti Messina avoided the tiebreak and edged out freshmen Garvin Murray and sophomore Gervase Ngo in a 7-5 set.
SINGLES
Puntaric set the tempo for NIU and dominated Willett, handing out a 6-1 result in the first set before shutting out the Pioneer in a 6-0 second set.
At No. 2 singles, Leti Messina defeated Gutbezahl in straight sets 6-4. The Rome native survived a late scare in the first set, leading 5-1 before the Pioneer took three straight games and nearly forced a tiebreaker.
In the second set, Leti Messina completed a 6-4 comeback after trailing 4-2 to put NIU within a point of victory. The sophomore credited his mentality for the productive day.
“I try to find the balance of routines and having fun. You have to be able to stick to a game plan because if it’s a tight match like today,” Leti Messina said. “You can’t just let it all out so I usually take a really big breath and try to focus on the next point.”
Scotuzzi sealed the Huskies’ win after taking down sophomore Henry Park 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles. Scotuzzi traded games at 2-2 before pulling away in the first and then rode that momentum in the following set.
At. 5 singles, Suo Nan closed out the first set against sophomore Aman Kothari 6-2 before going down 5-2 in the second set. Both players traded breaks but Suo Nan rallied to take the 7-5 comeback.
Pratyaksh LNU and Dellien secured the final Huskie points; LNU overcame freshman Devansh Punjabi in a three-set match, 6-3, 5-7, 10-3 at No. 4 singles while Dellien quickly beat Bostoen 6-2, 6-1 in the final matchup.
UP NEXT
The Huskies continue on the road as they take on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the last non-conference matchup at 12:30 p.m. Friday at the Atkins Tennis Center.
“I think we’re really dangerous and can do well,” Leti Messina said. “We’re focused on trusting and cheering each other on. If I’m fighting on one court, I know I have all of them fighting with me.”
