In a down and up weekend, the NIU men’s tennis team split a pair of MAC contests in hostile environments.

The Huskies dropped a 7-0 decision on Saturday to Toledo (16-9 overall, 2-1 MAC) before rebounding on Sunday to overtake Buffalo (7-10, 1-4), 5-2.

Dealing with a Toledo team playing on its Senior Day, the Huskies (6-9, 2-2) just couldn’t match the Rockets’ intensity. NIU struggled in singles play, losing each of its solo matches in straight sets.

“It was certainly a tough day for our guys, but you have to tip your cap to Toledo,” said NIU head coach Pawel Gajdzik.

“They played a great match, particularly the seniors, who were playing their last home match. Toledo is a team that can definitely be a factor in the MAC championship race.”

A rebound was in order for the holiday afternoon, however, as the Huskies came back to win five of six singles matches after trailing Buffalo 1-0 due to a dropped doubles point.

Senior Javier Bernabe and freshman Ross VanderPloeg led the pack Sunday, giving NIU its only doubles win and capturing singles victories at No. 4 and No. 6, respectively. The team is hoping that its victory over the Bulls will provide the spark it needs to move forward to the MAC tournament with a full head of steam.

“We’re hoping we can gain some momentum from this match and finish up our conference schedule playing our best tennis,” Gajdzik said. “We’ve put ourselves in a nice position to have a good seed at the MAC tournament if we can finish strong.”

The NIU women were unable to get anything going against a team that has been strong all season as they dropped a 7-0 sweep to No. 41 DePaul (19-4, 3-1 Big East), losing every match in straight sets.

“Today was a rough day for us, but we lost to a very good team in DePaul,” said Ryun Ferrell, NIU women’s head coach. “They have no holes and are definitely a better team than their No. 41 ranking indicates.”

The women are idle until Friday, when they will go on the road to take on Toledo.

Editor’s Note: Staff writer Chris Dertz contributed to this article.

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