April 25, 2008

Box Score

Western Michigan 4, Northern Illinois 3 in PDF Format

Rockford, Ill. - Northern Illinois head men's tennis coach Pontus Hiort knew that the Huskies did not perform to their capabilities in NIU's 7-0 defeat at the hands of Western Michigan in the regular-season finale.

The Huskies pushed the top-seeded Broncos to the limit in their Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinal match-up, but were unable to get over the hump as Western Michigan edged Northern Illinois, 4-3, at the Clock Tower Racquet Club on Friday afternoon.

Western Michigan's Alejandro Staub provided the match winner for the Broncos, breaking a 3-all tie, as he held on for the 6-4, 7-5 victory over NIU's Adam Ford (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) at No. 3 singles.

With the victory, Western Michigan improves to 19-7 overall and will face the winner of No. 2 Ball State and No. 3 Toledo in the championship match on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.). Northern Illinois ends its season with a mark of 11-8.

"I'm very proud of the guys," Hiort said. "We played a bad match against them last time and coming into today, we knew we had a shot.

"We were able to put ourselves in a position to get the upset, but weren't quite able to," Hiort continued. "We played the best doubles that I've seen all year. Our intensity and our energy level were outstanding."

NIU kicked off the match in fine fashion by capturing the doubles point. The Huskies' No. 1 tandem of junior Brian Livingston (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) and Ford claimed the 8-2 victory over Alex Birchmeier and Bryan Norville.

NIU senior Alex Friesen (Vancouver, B.C./Burnaby Central) and junior Jimmy Chu (Lima, Peru/San Augustin) teamed up at No. 2 doubles for the 8-2 win over Casey Cullen and Kevin Hayward.

Livingston rolled past Hayward at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-4, while Friesen claimed the 6-3, 6-3 win over Birchmeier to comprise the Huskies' final two points. 

Men's Tennis

Western Michigan 4, Northern Illinois 3

Mid-American Conference Tournament

April 25, 2008 * Rockford, Illinois

Clock Tower Racquet Club

Singles:
1. Brian Livingston (NIU) def. Kevin Hayward (WMU) 6-0, 6-4

2. Alex Friesen (NIU) def. Alex Birchmeier (WMU) 6-3, 6-3

3. Alejandro Staub (WMU) def. Adam Ford (NIU) 6-4, 7-5

4. Kazuya Komada (WMU) def. Jimmy Chu (NIU) 6-3, 6-3

5. Bryan Norville (WMU) def. Matt Hansen (NIU) 6-2, 6-3

6. Michael Calderone (WMU) def. Javier Bernabe (NIU) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles:

1. Brian Livingston/Adam Ford (NIU) def. Alex Birchmeier/Bryan Norville (WMU) 8-2

2. Jimmy Chu/Alex Friesen (NIU) def. Casey Cullen/Kevin Hayward (WMU) 8-2

3. Michael Calderone/Kazuya Komada (WMU) vs. Matt Hansen/Diego Zegarra-Ballon (NIU) 7-2, unfinished

##NIU##