In its final regular season matches of the year, the NIU men’s tennis team split the weekend as senior Willy Gali extended his winning streak to 20 matches.

The Huskies (12-9 overall, 2-3 MAC) dropped a 5-2 decision Saturday at Ball State (18-8, 5-0) as the Cardinals clinched their 18th regular season MAC championship.

But Gali improved his MAC-best record to 28-4 on the year with wins over Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne and BSU. NIU also finished its weather-delayed match against IPFW on Sunday with a 5-0 triumph.

The NIU women’s tennis team also wrapped up its season on the road with a loss at Eastern Michigan and a shutout of Toledo.

The Huskies (7-9 overall, 3-6 MAC) opened Friday’s match by winning the doubles point against Eastern Michigan (8-9, 6-2). But NIU could not break through in singles as EMU took five of the six matches for a 5-2 victory.

The Huskies bounced back on Saturday and took advantage of an undermanned Toledo (9-13, 1-8) squad in a 7-0 win.

NIU tennis begins postseason play with first-round action at the MAC championships, which start at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Western Michigan will host the six-team men’s grouping in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The 10-team women’s bracket will be hosted by Ball State in Muncie, Ind. as No. 7 seed NIU takes on No. 10 Akron.