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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Freshman Saul Berdullas (left) and senior Armin Koschtojan (right) talk strategy during a doubles match on March 2. NIU men's tennis was eliminated from the MAC Championship on Saturday with a 4-0 loss to the University of Toledo. (Northern Star File Photo)

Men’s tennis eliminated by Toledo

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | April 21, 2024

NIU men’s tennis (18-6, 7-3 MAC) has ended its season after being knocked out of the MAC Championship tournament semifinals by the University of Toledo Rockets (13-10, 7-3 MAC).  "It's a disappointing loss," said NIU men’s tennis head coach René...

Sophomore Iker Gaztambide Arrastia winds up for a strike on March 2 at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House. NIU men's tennis lost 4-3 to Western Michigan University on Sunday to drop to the No. 2 seed in the MAC Championship. (Northern Star File Photo)

Men’s tennis drops to No. 2 seed in regular season finale

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | April 15, 2024

Ending the regular season tied for second place in the MAC, NIU men’s tennis (18-5, 7-3 MAC) fell to Western Michigan University (16-5, 8-2 MAC) in the regular season finale. The Huskies went up 3-0 after clinching the doubles point and winning two...

Senior Cheng En Tsai strikes the ball at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House on March 2. Tsai won both his matches Friday as NIU men's tennis defeated Ball State University 5-2. (Northern Star File Photo)

Men’s tennis downs Ball State, wins 10th home match

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | April 13, 2024

NIU men's tennis (18-4, 7-2 MAC) remained undefeated at home, earning its tenth home win against the Ball State University Cardinals (11-9, 5-4 MAC) by a score of 5-2.  The Huskies won two doubles matches before conceding two singles matches.  Senior...

NIU sophomore Iker Gaztambide Arrastia gets set for an opponent's serve during a doubles match on March 2. Gaztambide Arrastia was the only Huskie to win a match as NIU men's tennis lost 6-1 to the University of Toledo Sunday. (Northern Star File Photo)

Men’s tennis loses 6-1, snaps MAC win streak at 5

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | April 9, 2024

NIU men’s tennis (17-4, 6-2 MAC) earned its second MAC loss after losing to the University of Toledo (11-10, 6-3 MAC) in a 6-1 defeat, snapping the five match win streak in the conference. After staring slow in doubles matches, the Huskies couldn’t...

NIU senior Armin Koschtojan gets set to serve in a doubles match on March 2. Koschtojan was one of five NIU men's tennis players to win a singles match in a 5-2 win over the University at Buffalo Friday. (Northern Star File Photo)

Men’s tennis grabs fifth straight MAC win

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | April 6, 2024

Earning its fifth straight win in MAC competition, NIU men’s tennis (17-3, 6-1 MAC) defeated the University of Buffalo (4-13, 0-8 MAC) in a 5-2 victory. The Huskies are now above Western Michigan in the standings, holding first place in the conference.  NIU...

NIU sophomore Christopher Norlin celebrates during a doubles match on March 2. Norlin won in singles and doubles as NIU men's tennis defeated University of Illinois Chicago 6-1 Saturday. (Northern Star File Photo)

Men’s tennis thumps UIC, wins fifth straight

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | March 31, 2024

Extending its winning streak to five matches, four of which being in conference play, NIU men’s tennis (16-3, 5-1 MAC) defeated the University of Illinois Chicago (9-8, 1-5 MAC) in a 6-1 victory.  The Huskies swept doubles matches to earn the double’s...

NIU sophomore Nataly Ninova prepares for a strike against Eastern Illinois University on March 9. Ninova and her doubles partner, junior Erika Dimitriev, earned MAC Doubles Team of the Week honors, along with NIU seniors Mikael Vollbach and Cheng En Tsai. (Northern Star File Photo)

Tennis Sweeps MAC Doubles Team of the Week

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | March 28, 2024

NIU swept the Mid-American Conference Doubles Team of the Week honors, with a team from both NIU men’s (15-3, 4-1 MAC) and women’s tennis (12-7, 1-2 MAC) being awarded the honor.  Senior duo Cheng En Tsai and Mikael Vollbach were named the MAC...

Freshman Saul Berdullas throws up a serve against Omaha on March 2. Berdullas was the lone Huskie to win a singles match in a  5-2 loss to Western Michigan University. (Norther Star File Photo)

Men’s tennis falls to Western Michigan, ends winning streak at 9

March 11, 2024

Losing to Western Michigan University (10-3, 2-0 MAC), NIU men’s tennis’ (11-3, 1-1 MAC) winning streak has ended at nine matches.  The Huskies won two matches to clinch the doubles point, before losing all but one of the singles matches.  Seniors...

Freshman Sam Klein (left) and sophomore Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (right) reach for a handshake at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House. Gaztambide Arrastia won his doubles match with sophomore Christopher Norlin as NIU defeated Ball State University 5-2. (Scott Walstrom | NIU Athletics)

Men’s tennis wins 9th straight with win over Ball State

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | March 9, 2024

Adding another win to the now nine match win streak, NIU men’s tennis (11-2, 1-0 MAC) defeated Ball State University (6-6, 0-1 MAC) 5-2, earning its first conference win. The Huskies won two of the three matches to clinch the doubles point, dropping...

NIU senior Mikael Vollbach gets set to receive the serve during singles. Vollbach scored the Huskies’ second point in a tight match that went to a second set tiebreaker as he defeated University of Nebraska Omaha sophomore Ryoma Mishiro with scores of 6-4, 7-6 and 7-5. (Tim Dodge | Northern Star)

Vollbach earns MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honors

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | March 7, 2024

NIU men’s tennis senior Mikael Vollbach was named the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week, the conference announced Wednesday.  MAC faculty athletics representatives consider athletic performance from the previous week and grade-point average when selecting...

Then-junior Mikael Vollbach stands ready to receive a serve during men's tennis' match against the University of Illinois Chicago on Feb. 22, 2023. Vollbach won all three of his matches Saturday, including his doubles match with senior Cheng En Tsai and the dual-clinching singles match against University of Nebraska Omaha. (Courtesy of NIU Athletics)

Men’s tennis take two decisive victories

By Kalin Schaefer, Sports Reporter | March 3, 2024

Improving to 10-2 on the season, NIU men’s tennis defeated both Southern University (0-9) and the University of Nebraska Omaha (10-6) on Saturday.  Defeating Southern 7-0 with two doubles and four singles matches being played, only five Huskies...

NIU men's tennis head coach René Vidal looks off into the distance. Vidal was announced as the next NIU men's tennis head coach Tuesday. (Courtesy of René Vidal)

René Vidal announced as next NIU men’s tennis head coach

By Ethan Gonzales, Former Sports Editor | February 8, 2024

DeKALB – Former McKendree University men’s and women’s tennis head coach René Vidal was named NIU men’s tennis head coach Wednesday, NIU Athletics announced. Vidal served as McKendree’s head tennis coach from 2020 to 2024. In 2022, Vidal...