BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Western Michigan men's tennis team takes on Northern Illinois in the 2026 Mid-American Conference Men's Tennis Tournament Semifinals on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the University at Buffalo.

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WELL THIS IS AWKWARD
This is the first MAC Tournament that Western Michigan has not hosted since 2018. The Broncos won that one with a 4-0 win against Ball State and then a 4-2 win over the host Bulls in the championship match. 

WMU had hosted the last five, with the 2020 MAC Tournament canceled due to COVID-19 and the 2021 MAC season using the regulars season champion as the automatic bid due to COVID-19.

HOW DID WE GET HERE
The Broncos (15-9, 8-2 MAC) earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament after sharing the Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship with Buffalo. The Bulls held the tie-breaker thanks to overall points in the team's two matches (9-5). 

WMU started off MAC play with a 1-2 record after a 6-1 loss to Buffalo, a 5-2 win at Toledo, and a 4-3 loss to Northern Illinois. Since then, WMU has won seven-straight matches. 

Junior Ashton Adesoro, sophomore Oscar Corwin and freshman Chen-Hui Ho have been the Broncos' dominant singles players in MAC play this season. Each has an 8-2 record. In doubles, it was junior Drew Evans and graduate student Tim Riedel have been the top pair for Western Michigan, combining for an 8-2  record in the MAC. They are 1-1 at the No. 1 position, 4-0 at No. 2 and 3-0 at No. 3.  

HOW DID THEY GET HERE
Northern Illinois (17-7, 7-3 MAC) was tied with Buffalo and Western Michigan for first place heading into the final weekend of the regular season. NIU fell at home to WMU, 5-2, to drop back to the three seed. 

Senior Iker Arrastia has been NIU's top, and one of the MAC's, singles player this season with a 9-1 record. Arrastia has played at the No. 1 and the No. 2 position during MAC play, with his lone loss coming against Ball State's Jacks Lancaster. Sophomore and Tulsa transfer Nikola Puntaric has an 8-2 record in singles, while splitting matches at No. 1 and No. 2. The doubles team of Lorenzi Leti Messina and Federico Scotuzzi led the team in MAC play with a 5-2 record.

THE MATCH UP
Western Michigan and Northern Illinois split the season series. NIU took the opening match in Kalamazoo, 4-3, back on March 12. WMU got its revenge with a 5-2 road win last Thursday.  

The two teams have not faced each other in the MAC Tournament since the 2022 semifinals, a 4-1 victory for the Broncos.  

HEADING IN ON A HEATER
The Broncos head into the MAC Tournament on a seven-match win streak. While the team is hot together, a few Broncos are streaking on their own.

Junior Ashton Adesoro is on a six-match singles winning streak, while graduate student Tim Riedel is at four and Oscar Corwin is at three. In doubles, Adesoro and sophomore Jack Davison have won five straight matches. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
The winner of Saturday's match will take on the winner of the Buffalo vs. Ball State Semifinal, which will be played prior to WMU's match at 10 a.m.