NIU men’s tennis entered the weekend in unfamiliar territory, with a share of the MAC regular season title on the line.

The Huskies (19-7, 3-1 MAC) opened with a win over Toledo 5-2. Up next was Buffalo, who was also undefeated in MAC play.

Buffalo (9-8, 4-0 MAC) got the better of NIU, winning 5-2, in a match that ended NIU’s hopes of claiming its first regular season title in program history.

“Today was probably the biggest moment since joining the MAC,” said NIU coach Patrick Fisher. “We’ve never been in a position to win the regular season, so it’s a good thing to know that we had a chance.”

In its first match of the weekend, NIU controlled Toledo from the beginning, sweeping the doubles matches for the first point. The Huskies won at second through fifth singles, which included three-set victories from Roman Turtygin and Axel Lagerlof at second and third singles.

Against Buffalo, NIU came out flat, dropping the doubles point. NIU bounced back through strong efforts from the bottom of its lineup. At fifth singles, Frederic Cadieux won 6-1, 6-3, while Max Phillips won his contest at sixth singles 6-4, 6-2. The two combined to win their doubles match as well.

While the bottom of NIU’s lineup had no problem taming the Bulls, the top four spots struggled. NIU lost in three sets at each of the top three spots and lost at fourth as well.

Both Dor Amir, first singles, and Axel Lagerlof, third singles, won their first sets before dropping their second sets 6-4. Amir battled in the third set, but ended up dropping it 7-5. Lagerlof watched his match slip away as he lost the third set 6-4.

“Buffalo played really well to beat us,” Fisher said. “They played fantastic in doubles and their guys came up big when they needed to in the crucial moments of the match. You have to give credit to Buffalo for the way they played.”