The NIU men’s tennis team should think twice next year when scheduling matches outside Illinois.

Over the weekend the Huskies defeated a pair of Illinois schools to improve their record against in-state opponents to 4-0 on the season.

On Friday, the Huskies got back to the .500 mark with a 5-2 win over Bradley in Rockford.

The Huskies won all four matches that went three sets.

“We fought hard all the way through the lineup today,” NIU coach Pontus Hiort said. “Even the guys who came up on the short end played well and fought until the very end.”

On Saturday the Huskies (4-3) defeated Illinois-Chicago 6-1 on the road.

NIU won every match but No. 5 singles, where Eric Foy recovered after dropping the first set to defeat NIU 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Coaches Corner radio show

Fans will get a chance to join NIU men’s and women’s basketball coaches Rob Judson and Carol Hammerle when they take part in the Coaches Corner held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Fatty’s, 1312 W. Lincoln Highway.

WLBK-1360 AM’s Craig Hess and NIU’s Bill Baker will join the coaches as they talk Huskie hoops.

Huskies’ thirst is quenched

NIU Intercollegiate Athletics announced Monday it has agreed to a four-year partnership with Gatorade.

The agreement, which will allow NIU to provide Gatorade products for all its sports programs, will benefit the 426 student-athletes that are competing at NIU.

“This is a monumental development for our program, and to be able to dramatically strengthen our valued relationship with Gatorade in this fashion is tremendous,” NIU Athletic Director Jim Phillips said. “The people who benefit the most from this multi-year partnership will be our student-athletes.”

Running away with a record

NIU senior Alicja Czajka became the first Huskie to break the 10-minute barrier in the 3,000-meter run when she finished in 9-minutes, 41.82 seconds at the Iowa State Classic Saturday.

The mark was good enough for fourth place at the meet, where no team scores were kept. Czajka had held the previous school record of 10:00.82, which she set in 2003.

Ball bounces Xavier’s way

The women’s tennis team suffered a pair of three-set losses as it fell to Xavier 5-2 Saturday in Rockford.

At No. 1 singles Lauren Clary defeated Cassie Drake 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, while her sister Kristen Clary took care of NIU’s Ivonne Andrade 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 at No. 2 singles.

At No. 3 singles NIU’s Christy Svetlic won a three-set match over Stephanie Bauer 6-4, 5-7, 7-6.