NIU men’s tennis (9-3) was defeated 6-1 by No. 11 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (11-3) on Friday in the Huskies’ last non-conference game, snapping a three-game winning streak.
NIU dropped No. 2/No. 3 doubles and five singles matchups with senior Iker Gaztambide Arrastia preventing the sweep at top court. The Spaniard clinched the upset win over No. 23 Illinois senior Kenta Miyoshi in a three-set thriller.
“We’re a resilient team and always gonna fight for every single point,” head coach René Vidal said. “Iker (Gaztambide Arrastia) did a great job hanging in there, defeating the No. 23 player in the country. That’s a great step for our program and for him.”
DOUBLES
The Huskies conceded the doubles point with only a break as the difference in the defeats.
Senior Federico Scotuzzi and sophomore Lorenzo Leti Messina fell to the freshman duo of David Bakonyi and Adam Jilly 6-3. Senior Iker Dellien Velasco and sophomore Chiao Bo Suo Nan suffered the same fate, losing 6-3 against freshman Gabriel Debru and junior Jeremy Zhang.
At top court, Arrastia and sophomore Nikola Puntaric nearly defeated freshman Hayden Jones and senior William Mroz, leading 5-4 before the match was abandoned.
SINGLES
Singles play was highlighted by Gaztambide Arrastia’s comeback over the nationally acclaimed opponent. The senior fell short in the first set 6-3 before striking back 6-4 in the second, setting up a tiebreaker.
The Huskie had gone down 6-4 but Gazatambide Arrastia took straight games to take the point 1-0 (10-6) in his return to top court.
At No. 2 singles, Leti Messina battled in his defeat to Jones, losing the first set 7-6 via tiebreaker and the second set 6-4.
NIU suffered losses at No. 3 and No. 4. Scotuzzi lost 6-2 in both sets versus Jilly while Suo Nan was outmatched by Viiala, 6-2, 6-0.
Sophomore Pratyaksh LNU fell short 6-4, 7-5 against Zhang at No. 5 and Dellien was beaten in straight sets by Bakonyi, 6-3, 6-1.
UP NEXT
The Huskies open up their Mid-American Conference schedule against the University of Illinois Chicago at 3 p.m. Saturday at XS Tennis Village in Chicago.
“Our focus is intensity and fundamentals and believe that if we bring those qualities to the court, we’re gonna fulfill our potential,” Vidal said.
