Men’s tennis off to best start in over 30 years
February 19, 2021
DeKALB — Men’s tennis moves to 6-0 after a 4-3 victory over the Marquette Golden Eagles Thursday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, giving the Huskies its best start since the 1988-89 season.
“This was a great match against a good Marquette team, and all the credit to [the] guys; they earned it,” NIU men’s tennis coach Patrick Fisher said in a news conference. “It’s winning these close ones that validates all the hard work we have put in.”
Marquette came out on-top early, securing the doubles points, but NIU junior Victor Spolidorio tied the match up quickly with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Marquettes Nikola Kijac.
Huskies senior Bor Schweiger Muzar gave the team its first lead of the night with his 6-4, 6-0 victory over Luis Heredia Gomez, giving the Huskies a 2-1 advantage with four matches still waiting to turn final.
Sophomore Oliver Valentinsson’s 6-1, 6-4 victory gave the Huskies their first look at victory for the evening, but Marquette was able to secure singles victories over redshirt junior Kristopher Ortega and sophomore Mikko Malinen to knot the matches score up at three points each.
In the end, the final match came down to a three-set thriller between NIU first-year Mikael Vollbach, and first year Ian Brady for the Golden Eagles.
Vollbach took the first set with a convincing 6-2 win, but after falling 5-7 in the second set, Vollbach’s personal win and team victory were all riding on the third set.
Vollbach was able to out play Brady and secure a 6-4 victory for himself and keep the Huskies out of the loss column for another evening.
The Huskies return to the courts at 5 p.m. Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, when they take on the Drake University Bulldogs.
