DEKALB, Ill. – In a battle between the two unbeaten teams in the Mid-American Conference, the 50th-ranked Western Michigan men's tennis team took down No. 44 Northern Illinois on the road, 6-1, on Friday afternoon.
The Broncos improved to 16-1 overall and 5-0 in the MAC, while dropping NIU to 17-2 on the season and 4-1 in conference play.
The match got off to an exciting start with the doubles point coming down to the wire. NIU's Victor Spolidorio and Mikko Malinen started off doubles play with a win at No. 2 over WMU's
Fynn Lohse and
Arjun Honnappa. Seniors
Zac Faveri and
Jannik Opitz earned a 6-4 win over Bor Schweiger Muzar and Mikael Vollbach to tie it up at 1-1. Junior
Peter Kuszynski and
Joaquin Caballer clinched the doubles point in dramatic fashion with a 7-6 (8-6) win over Oliver Valentinsson and Kristopher Ortega.
The Huskies tied up at the match at 1-1 with Vollbach winning at No. 6 over WMU freshman
Brogan Pierce 6-1, 6-3. Western Michigan took a 2-1 lead after Kuszynski defeated Malinen 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2. The Broncos then extended the lead after freshman
Jackson Boone won at No. 4 against Valentinsson 6-1, 6-4. Opitz sealed the match for the Broncos with a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 1 over Muzar. The win was the 115th singles win of Opitz's career, tying him for the program record with Michael Calderone. Lohse pushed the lead to 5-1 with a three-set win at No. 3 over Kristopher Ortega 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6), while Honnappa finished off the match with a win at No. 5 over Spolidorio 7-6 (10-3), 4-6, 1-0 (10-7).
The Broncos are back at home on Saturday outdoors at Sorensen Courts hosting Butler at 3:30 p.m.
