Coming off its biggest upset of the season, the NIU men’s tennis team is looking to head into the MAC Tournament with a full head of steam.

After taking down Ball State (11-11 overall, 3-2 MAC) last weekend, the Huskies (8-9, 3-2) have earned the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament.

“We finished strong and have put ourselves in a position to have a great showing at the MAC Championships,” said NIU head coach Pawel Gajdzik. “There is still a lot of tennis to be played, and our main goal is still ahead of us; that is reaching the NCAA Tournament. We will stress staying focused on our goals this week in practice.”

NIU hopes to gain momentum from a comeback victory over the Cardinals on Saturday, trailing 3-0 before storming back to steal the match, 4-3.

Gajdzik finds his team right where it wanted to be at this point in the season, ending the conference season in a three-way tie for second place but losing out on the No. 2 seed by way of its 7-0 loss to No. 2 Toledo.

The Huskies will face the No. 6 Chicago State Cougars in the first round, with the winner securing a date with the Rockets. NIU last met the Cougars April 2 when the Huskies swept them, 7-0.

Although there is still tennis to be played, the favorable post-season positioning can’t help but feel like a culmination of the season as a whole for Gajdzik and his team. The first-year coach came in with a set plan to legitimize the program.

“This has been a great year for our program, because we have accomplished a lot of the goals we set out for ourselves,” Gajdzik said.

On the other side, the NIU women will be seeking to continue a trend of Huskie success against Ball State. The No. 8 seed Huskies (6-15, 1-7) will be looking to advance to the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament for the second straight year against No. 9 Ball State (5-13, 0-8).

While NIU has had an underwhelming season against conference opponents, its lone win against MAC opponents came against the Cardinals March 20.

The winner of the opening-round contest will garner a match with No. 1 seed Miami (Ohio). NIU dropped a 6-1 decision to the RedHawks a day after taking down Ball State earlier in the season.
“I am really excited to watch our team play this week,” said NIU head coach Ryun Ferrell. “We’re in a stable mindset right now, and are looking forward to the opportunity to compete in this tournament.”

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