Mens, women’s tennis set for action

By Sean Anderson

NIU men’s and women’s tennis will be in action over the weekend and during spring break.

The men’s team will be home to play against Brown March 9. After that, the Huskies will travel to Daytona and Orlando to play matches against North Carolina Central, Quinnipiac, Youngstown State, Bucknell and Green Bay.

The Huskies (10-4) look to continue get back into the win column after a loss to Wisconsin. They have won two of the last three matches heading into this weekend.

After a loss to Wisconsin, the Huskies feel no embarrassment because they fought hard the whole match, said Patrick Fisher, NIU men’s tennis coach.

“We played tough and we feel no shame in a loss to such a good program like Wisconsin,” Fisher said. “We are getting closer and closer to competing against ranked teams. Earlier in the season, we didn’t play well against Indiana and Drake, but now we are competing against teams like that.”

NIU knows it will be a tough battle against its upcoming opponents, said redshirt freshman Dor Amir. He added that the potential is high for the Huskies.

“We feel we can beat anyone, and it doesn’t matter if the team is ranked or not,” Amir said. “We know it will not be easy, but we know we can do it.”

The women’s squad will head to Daytona, Fla. to face Youngstown State, Embry-Riddle and Bethune Cookman.

The Huskies (6-4) won their last match against Milwaukee, but lost their two matches before beating the Panthers.

Even though the Huskies have lost two of their last three, Ryun Ferrel, NIU women’s tennis coach, said it is important not to forget the feeling of losing those matches.

“We’ve only changed a few small things in practice, and a few things on how we go out and play each game,” Ferrel said. “We have to remember how we felt at that moment, and work our butt off so we don’t have to feel that way ever again.”