Jan. 26, 2008

Iowa City, Iowa  - The Northern Illinois men's tennis team pushed Iowa to the limit for the doubles point, but the Hawkeyes' tandem of Reinoud Haal and Patrick Dwyer picked up the 9-8 win at No. 3 doubles, to help propel the host Hawkeyes to the 6-1 non-conference victory at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, Iowa improves to 1-0 overall, while the Huskies drop to 1-1 on the campaign.

Iowa and Northern Illinois split the first two doubles matches with the Huskies' duo of Alex Friesen (Vancouver, British Columbia/Burnaby Central) and Jimmy Chu (Lima, Peru/San Augustin) earning the 8-2 triumph over Greg Holm and Walker Grimes at No. 2 doubles.

"We played well enough to win the doubles-point," NIU head men's tennis coach Pontus Hiort said. "We competed well, but we need to do a better job of believing that they can compete at this level."

Chu earned the lone point for the Huskies at No. 4 singles with a 6-7, default victory over Haal.  

NIU returns to the court tomorrow, as the Huskies travel to Madison, Wisconsin to square off with Wisconsin. First serve is set for 10 a.m. (CST).

Men's Tennis

Iowa 6, Northern Illinois 1

January 26, 2008 * Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center

Singles

No. 1 - Bart van Monsjou (Iowa) def. Brian Livingston (NIU), 6-4, 6-2

No. 2 - J.P. Ritchie (Iowa) def. Alex Friesen (NIU), 6-2, 6-3

No. 3 - Christian Bierich (Iowa) def. Adam Ford (NIU), 6-2, 6-1

No. 4 - Jimmy Chu (NIU) def. Reinoud Haal (Iowa), 6-7, default

No. 5 - Tommy McGeorge (Iowa) def. Javier Bernabe (NIU), 6-2, 6-1

No. 6 - Greg Holm (Iowa) def. Diego Zegarra-Ballon (NIU), 6-2, 6-3

Doubles

No. 1 - van Monsjou/Ritchie (Iowa) def. Livingston/Ford (NIU), 8-3

No. 2 - Friesen/Chu (NIU) def. Holm/Walker Grimes (Iowa), 8-2

No. 3 - Haal/Patrick Dwyer (Iowa) def. Zegarra-Ballon/Alfonso Monroy (NIU), 9-8

##NIU##