NIU’s men’s tennis team will have all the competition it will need this weekend when the Huskies travel to the University of Nebraska for the Cornhusker Invitational.

“This is the toughest (competition) we have faced since I’ve been here,” coach Chuck Merzbacher said.

Headlining the schools NIU will face is Drake University. Drake qualified for the NCAA tournament last year, one of only 24 schools that do so annually.

Also in the tournament are Iowa State of the Big Ten, Nebraska, Southern Illinois, Southwest Missouri State, Wichita State and Creighton.

Merzbacher said the team hopes to improve on a disappointing showing in last week’s Iowa State Invitational.

Marty Engel, Dustin Dobrin and Andy Caldwell competed at Iowa

State last weekend. The best finish was Engel’s fourth place in the No. 1 singles flight.

“We learned some things last weekend,” Merzbacher said. “We learned we need to close the deal in matches.”

This week’s tournament is the first time this year that NIU will bring an entire team, Merzbacher said.

Merzbacher said he will be closely watching the play of junior David Settlemeyer at No. 5 singles and Corey Westphal at No. 6

Two other players Merzbacher will have his eyes on are the No. 1 doubles team of Matt Green and David Shuber. “We’re hoping they really perform,” Merzbacher said. “They’re both very talented players.”