The Huskies won the first set in five-of the top six singles flights, and claimed straight-set wins at both the No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions, but dropped the doubles point, and came up short in a 4-2 decision versus Toledo in the first-round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Courts.
"We knew that Toledo would be tough in doubles play, and they proved that early in the match today," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "But our guys really responded in singles play, re-gained momentum, and gave us a chance to win. We were three points away from winning this match; Greg (Czajkowski) had a chance to serve out in the second-set tiebreaker, and we also had chances to close things out at No. 2 singles.
"Toledo made a run at us after we took over the momentum; we were rolling, and couldn't hang on in the end. That's what good teams do, and what our guys will learn from this experience. When you've got a chance to put a team away, you need to buckle down, concentrate, and play the final 15 minutes of the match like you did early on, to turn things around. Our guys are disappointed, but they'll learn from this, and we'll be a better team next season because we now have experience in these types of situations."
Toledo jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the tournament-formatted match by capturing regulation pro-set wins at the No. 2 (8-2) and No. 3 (8-3) doubles positions. At No. 1 doubles, NIU's Mikhail Titov and Roman Turtygin led 5-2, but the match was abandoned after the doubles point was decided.
The Huskies quickly re-claimed momentum in singles play, capturing first set wins at the No. 1, third, No. 4, fifth and No. 6 slots. Turtygin, playing No. 4 singles, tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Toledo's Leo Sarria. Senior Javier Bernabe then fell in straight-sets at No. 3 singles, as the Rockets took a 2-1 team lead.
Maximilian Phillips, the Huskies' No. 5 singles player, then tied the match at 2-2 with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win over the Rockets' Gursher Harika. Greg Czajkowski won the first set 6-2 at No. 6, but then dropped the final sets in succession (7-6, 6-1), as the Rockets jumped back out to a 3-2 lead.
Freshman Maksym Bartiuk, NIU's top singles player, was well on his way to keeping the Huskies alive and continuing the see-saw affair, before cramping up. He won the first set 6-4, and held a 6-5 lead in the ensuing second-set tiebreaker before Fisher called a medical timeout.
During Bartiuk's stoppage of play, Toledo's Sven Burus completed a comeback at No. 2 singles over Titov (No. 2 singles), overcoming a 6-0 loss in the first set to claim respective 7-5 and 6-3 victories in the final two frames. The win gave Toledo the decisive fourth team point, and Bartiuk's match went into the books unfinished.
Northern Illinois will return five-of its top singles players next season, and Fisher will welcome Chicago native and Walter Payton Prep High School product Matt Goralka to the fold. Goralka signed his National Letter of Intent at NIU in early January.
"We've laid a solid foundation here, and things are heading in the right direction," Fisher added. "I want to thank Javier (Bernabe) for the great career he had here, and what he provided to this young team. When you talk about NIU tennis going forward, you'll think of Javier. He embodies all of the qualities we want our program to represent, and he's been a huge factor in us turning this thing around."
