Comebacks were the order of the day as the NIU men’s tennis bounced back from Sunday’s loss at Western Michigan and returned to its winning form with a 6-1 victory over visiting UIC.

Despite playing without No. 1 singles player Willy Gali, the Huskies improved to 14-4 on the year.

With Gali unable to play because of a family emergency, senior Ryan Schnack stepped in to play at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles with freshman Jack Komar. Schnack won both of his matches with comebacks at critical stages of each match.

Schnack and Komar were down 5-0 at one point in their doubles match against Paul Glendenning and Sean Kreymborg before rallying to take the match 9-7.

Komar credited their strategic use of precision lobs over their oft-charging opponents as the key to their victory.

Schnack wasn’t finished yet, as he took the victory over Pat Zufan in three sets 6-2, 4-6, 10-8. Once again, Schnack fought back from being down 6-0 in the final set by winning 10 of the final 12 points to take the match.

“It was very frustrating at the beginning,” Schnack said. “I had to shake off the rust, but in the end, I felt back to normal, and I’m glad I pulled out the win.”

Komar also won his match at No. 3 singles 6-0, 6-4 by frustrating UIC’s John Cincola with angle shots and slowing down the pace of the match.

“It was an ugly match,” Komar said. “When that happens, I just do my best to irritate my opponent as much as possible – and today it worked.”

The lone loss for the Huskies came at No. 1 singles as Juan Pablo Barriga fell to freshman Artsem Burmistrau in the longest match of the afternoon.

After Burmistrau took the first set in a 7-6 (7-2) tiebreaker, Barriga answered by winning the second set 6-4. Barriga had an 8-4 lead in the third set before Burmistrau won the next six points to win the match and prevent a team sweep.

Burmistrau improved his record to 10-3 on the year for the Flames (5-9).