The NIU men’s tennis team picked up its 20th consecutive victory over Western Illinois with a 7-0 shutout Saturday.

The Huskies (11-3 overall) did not lose a single set in the non-conference meet.

“Today was a good match for us; we stayed focused and did not have any letdowns,” NIU coach Pontus Hiort said. “We showed good concentration throughout.”

The winning streak dates back to 1976.

At No. 1 doubles, NIU’s Aaron Forsberg beat his younger brother, Drew. Aaron and teammate Willy Gali won 8-4 as WIU fell to 4-6 on the season.

The Huskies will finish up their non-conference schedule at 1 p.m. Tuesday when they host Chicago State at the Rockford Boylan tennis courts.

First MAC win

A sweep of all three doubles matches propelled the NIU women’s tennis to its first MAC victory Friday.

The Huskies improved to 1-1 in conference play with a 4-3 win over Buffalo.

At No. 3 singles, senior Karrie Tyioran defeated Katrin Fischer 6-0, 6-1 for the Huskies.

No. 4 Ivonne Andrade and No. 6 Dani Martinez were the only other Huskies to win their singles matches.

Huskies take fifth

After finishing the first round of competition with an 86, NIU’s Dan Gratton shot a career-low, 4-under-par 68 to lead the NIU men’s golf team to fifth place at the 2004 Pepsi-Cola Invitational.

Gratton’s 15-over finish was good enough for 14th place at the 10-team event.

As a team the Huskies finished with a 923, 13 shots behind first-place finisher Nebraska (110).