Each player on the NIU men’s tennis team has made progress from last season. Thus, the Huskies have dominated every tournament they have entered so far.

The Huskies will look to continue that dominance this weekend, but that dominance will be limited to doubles. The Huskies will travel up to Lansing, Mich., to play in the Michigan State Doubles Invitational.

Huskies coach Charles Merzbacher attributed the success of his Huskies to the experience, desire and mental toughness of his crew.

“Everything was new last year. We were young. I thought that there was a limit on how much we could improve last year. But this year, I learned that there is no limit on how much these guys can improve,” he said.

No. 1 player Mats Persson is as solid mentally as his ground strokes are. After compiling the best record on the team last year, Persson is finding out he’s not sneaking up on opponents anymore.

“Mats found out in the last tournament that he’s a good win for other players. He’s not sneaking up on anybody. People know about him, and they’re gunning for him,” Merzbacher said.

Greg O’Neil has always shown he could become a solid player. With Merzbacher’s guidance, his game matured. He does not only show up for the important matches anymore, he’s now an everyday player. “He’s learning how to close matches. He’s learning how to win the important points and closing out each game,” Merzbacher said.

Sophomore Dustin Dobrin plays the game exactly as he looks. “He just takes his briefcase out to the court with him and takes care of business. He’s a very disciplined individual and he wants to succeed,” Merzbacher said.

Senior Erik Andersch is the leader of the squad. He is not playing the high position people expected, but he’s dominating the opponents’ No. 4 players. “Erik is our emotional leader. I think that he’ll eventually move up, but it’ll be hard (keeping) the other players down because they’ve been so successful,” Merzbacher said.

Steve Senter might have finally found himself. After losing his first-round match in the last tournament, he and Merzbacher decided Senter is a server and volleyer. Senter went on to win his next three matches.

Dave Settlemeyer has the best ground strokes on the team, according to Merzbacher. “I think that mentally, Settle has made the most improvement. He has the most beautiful, beautiful groundstrokes on the team,” Merzbacher said.