Men’s tennis split their matches this weekend winning one at home and one on the road.

The Huskies started off the weekend with a victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Friday at the Boylan Tennis Center in Rockford.

The Huskies (6-2) knocked off the Cougars (3-2) by a score of 6-1. NIU won all three doubles matches, and only lost one singles match.

Senior Axel Lagerlof and junior Dor Amir continued to be perfect in doubles with a 6-2 win over Stephen Washuta and Nico Kuehn of SIUE. Sophomore Simon Formont and junior Frederic Cadieux also scored a win in doubles, knocking off Nicolas Vincent and Jacob Tanulanond 6-2.

The only loss suffered by the Huskies in singles was dealt by the Cougars’ Tanulanond. Tanulanond defeated freshman Carlos Manzanas, 6-4 and 6-3. In his first match since Jan. 17, freshman Matt Lynch knocked off SIUE’s Patrick Gaffigan, 6-3, 0-6 and 6-4, to earn his first win of the season. Lynch had to earn his win, being the only one to go for three matches.

Head coach Patrick Fisher thought his team did well, but also noticed some areas where improvement could be needed.

“We dominated in singles and doubles,” Fisher said. “We struggled in some areas. I don’t think we’re anywhere near where we should be. These are building blocks. We have different things to focus on each weekend.”

On Sunday, NIU travelled to Bloomington, Ind. to take on No. 57 Indiana (6-4).

The match against the Hoosiers didn’t go the Huskies’ way, losing 5-2. The loss snapped their six-game winning streak.

NIU lost both of its doubles matches and only won two of its six singles.

Lagerlof started off singles with a win over Sven Lalic going 6-4, 3-6, and 6-2. The Huskies wouldn’t manage to earn another win in singles until Formont defeated Matthew McCoy, 6-0, 1-6 and 6-0.

Indiana’s Daniel Bednarczyk and Sam Monette defeated Langerlof and Amir 8-5 in the first doubles match. The loss ended the NIU duo’s perfect season.

Lynch and senior Jovan Zeljkovic were knocked off by Lalic and Dimitrije Tasic of Indiana, 8-4, to end doubles play.

"This is a really tough loss for our guys," Fisher said in a news release. "We fought really hard against a good Big Ten team. We just came up short tonight. We are so close, and I just hope our guys can take the positives out of this because there is a lot to take. It'll be motivation for us from here on out."

NIU men’s tennis will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. Friday to open up its MAC play against Western Michigan (11-7, 1-0 MAC).

Western Michigan won the MAC Tournament from 2006 to 2010, but lost in the semifinals last season to eventual champion Ball State. NIU coach Patrick Fisher is familiar with Western Michigan’s success and knows first-hand how tough the Broncos are; he’s never beaten them in his tenure at NIU.

“Everyone in their lineup is a threat,” Fisher said. “They’ve won the league and gone to the tournament, I would say, seven or eight times out of the last 10. They are the team to beat. They are the class of the league. I think in a lot of ways they’ve been like the Akron of men’s soccer; no one really can beat them on a regular basis.”

The Huskies (14-5) have not matched the Broncos’ success over the past few seasons, but have steadily improved in each campaign.

This season has gone exceptionally well for NIU, already accumulating its most team wins since its 16-win 2002-03 showing with nine matches still scheduled.

The Huskies have made it clear they are ready to be the new breed of the MAC, and with a lineup capable of putting up 14 wins without two-time All-MAC performer Maksym Bartiuk, the once-tested depth of the lineup seems to no longer be a problem.

“We’ve had to deal with an unhealthy lineup this whole year,” Fisher said. “Regardless of where we are at, we still feel we have a good chance to win. We’ve won a lot already without having guys in the lineup at certain times this year.”

Fisher said his current roster has what it takes to avenge last season’s 6-1 loss to the Broncos.

“We’re really excited,” Fisher said. “We’re probably in the best shape going into the conference play in the last four or five years. Obviously, we’ve won a lot and our guys have some great confidence right now. Except for a couple matches, we’ve been in position to win every single match and I don’t see that changing this week.”