The men’s tennis team rebounded from a rough road start with three victories over the weekend, including a 5-2 win over Creighton in NIU’s first home match of the season.

The team also won a pair of matches Sunday in Normal, Illinois, beating the University of Missouri-Kansas City 4-1 and Illinois State University 4-3.

Head Coach Patrick Fisher said the turnaround showed how passionate the team is about improving.

“This was another tough weekend for us,” Fisher said in an NIU Athletics news release. “I’m proud of how our guys responded after such a rough start to the season. This team has a ton of character with fighting spirit, and today, the tougher team won.”

Junior Bor Schweiger Muzar swept his singles matchups during the weekend, putting his spring record at 3-3.

Saturday- NIU 5, Creighton 2

After edging out his opponent in the first set with a 7-6 win, sophomore Kristopher Ortega didn’t give up a single game in his next set against Creighton sophomore Stratton Brown, winning the first singles point of the day.

First-year David Pata and Muzar both picked up singles points for the Huskies as well. First-year Mikko Malinen clinched the win for NIU with a 7-6, 3-6 and 10-6 tiebreaker victory over junior Daniel Lopez-Rey.

NIU also swept Creighton in the doubles sets, with Pata and junior Shao-Yu Yu clinching the point with a 6-1 win over sophomore Joe Hoff and junior Armando Gandini.

Sunday Morning- NIU 4, UMKC 1

Muzar picked up his second win of the weekend with a 7-5, 6-1 singles-point victory over junior Hunter Clark.

First-year Mikko Malinen recovered after dropping the second set of his match with senior Anil Patel 6-0, winning the deciding set 6-1 to give NIU a singles point.

The Huskies ultimately clinched the victory with the doubles point, with Ortega and senior Eric Marbach winning the opening doubles set 6-4 over senior Ben Stride and sophomore Diego Giraldo.

Sophomore Victor Spolidorio and Malinen won the final double set for NIU 6-2 over Clark and Patel.

Sunday Afternoon- NIU 4, Illinois State 3

After his first match of the day went unfinished, Marbach picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win over senior Igor Kolaric, giving NIU its first singles point.

Pata won his second match of the weekend with Muzar completing the weekend sweep with a 6-3, 6-2 singles win over sophomore Pol Botifoll Rius of ISU.

The singles win putting the Huskies over the top was a three-set victory for Spolidorio over senior Egehan Sertkaya.  

The Huskies’ upcoming weekend stretch starts by hosting Wright State at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Chick Evans Field House. NIU will also play against Saint Francis and Butler in a doubleheader on Sunday in Aurora.