In a rematch of last year’s MAC championship, the NIU men’s tennis team will try to exact revenge against Western Michigan in the season’s final home match.

When NIU takes on the Broncos at 1 p.m. Saturday, it will be NIU’s first and only home meet in DeKalb this season, despite the West Campus Courts, by Stevenson Towers, undergoing renovations all of last season.

Senior Willy Gali could only watch in last year’s defeat after he took his singles and doubles matches. Western Michigan won four of the six singles matches to take the MAC title.

“Yeah, it is a revenge match,” Gali said. “Although we have a new team now, Erick [Martinez] and I really want to beat them. It’s pretty important to all of us, especially to me because it’s my last home match.”

Gali and Martinez are the lone returners from last year’s team, and Martinez agreed that Saturday’s matchup is more than a typical conference showdown.

“We want to win all our MAC matches,” Martinez said. “But we’ve got a history with Western Michigan and it’s definitely a rivalry. It’s definitely an exciting opportunity and we’re looking forward to it.”

Home court has been an advantage for NIU (9-7 overall, 0-1 MAC). Over the last two years, the Huskies are 14-1 in matches held in DeKalb and Rockford, thanks in part to the players’ familiarity with the weather.

“It’s very important because DeKalb is so windy and Western Michigan is a better team indoors,” Gali said. “I think we have an advantage.”

Gali has a 15-game winning streak and 23-4 record on the year, but the Huskies will need other players to step up against WMU.

The Broncos have shut out four of their last five opponents and beat NIU twice last season. Western Michigan (14-5, 2-0) is 56-18 in the No. 2-5 singles spots on the year.

“They have a very good team,” NIU coach Pontus Hiort said. “But we have a strong squad as well. We just need to put up a strong performance one through six. We can’t just rely on Willy. Every guy will have to play well for us to win.”

Women’s tennis take on Buffalo

The MAC schedule continues for the NIU women’s tennis team as the Huskies attempt to break their three-match losing streak this weekend at Buffalo and Akron.

NIU (4-6 overall, 0-3 MAC) will begin the weekend with a 1 p.m. match today at Buffalo (6-3, 1-2) and conclude it with a 1 p.m. Saturday match at Akron (6-13, 0-4).

Last season, the Huskies defeated Buffalo 4-3 and Akron 5-2 in the same weekend at home.

Senior Ivonne Andrade, who leads NIU with 11 wins, scored victories over Buffalo and Akron last season at No. 4 singles.