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Tennis preparing to start MAC play MAC standings
Danielle Brown Staff writer
DeKalb | Women’s tennis (5-7) will look to break its recent struggles as it begins conference play this week, starting with games against Bowling Green State University (211) and Ball State University (13-2). The Huskies are currently on a three-game losing streak after starting the year 5-4 and have won just four total matches in that span. Their losing streak includes losses to Drake University, Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida Atlantic University.
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1. Ball State: 13-2 2. Western Michigan: 11-5 3. Buffalo: 8-4 4. Akron: 10-6 5. Toledo: 6-7 6. Miami: 5-6 7. NIU: 5-7 8. Eastern Michigan: 3-10
Against an extremely good Drake team, I felt that we played one of our best matches of the season. We played especially well in doubles to earn the key doubles point.” Tanya Gombera Women’s tennis head coach
The team’s last victory came March 5 against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. NIU is now 2-6 on the road and 2-1 at home. It’s losing streak comes after the team made changes to its doubles lineups, a change that initially gave the team some success. Head coach Tanya Gombera said the changes wouldn’t be permanent if they didn’t prove to work out over a long period of time. The Huskies didn’t choose an ideal time to have their recent skid — riding a three-game losing streak into a stretch will not be favorable, but they are only two games behind .500. The good news for NIU is
9. Bowling Green: 2-11 that four of their eight remaining games will be at home, where they’ve played just three games thus far. The team will have more than a month to pick up its play before the MAC Tournament gets underway April 29. “Against an extremely good Drake team, I felt that we played one of our best matches of the season,” Gombera said following the team’s 4-3 loss to Drake on March 12, according to an NIU Athletics news release. “We played especially well in doubles to earn the key doubles point. We are definitely peeking at the right time, and I know if we continue to improve at this rate that we can be successful in the MAC this season.” Matches against Bowling Green will start at 1 p.m. Friday in Rockford. They will end against Ball State at 1 p.m. Sunday in Muncie, Ind.
Huskies look to finish historic season strong Krystal Ward Staff writer
DeKalb | Men’s basketball (21-12, 9-9 MAC) is preparing to take on the University of California, Santa Barbara (18-13, 11-5 Big West) in the Vegas 16 quarterfinals on Monday. The Huskies are coming off of a loss to Ohio University in the MAC quarterfinals. The Gauchos saw their nine-game winning streak end in the Big West semifinals to the eventual conference champions, the University of Hawaii.
The Vegas 16 will be NIU’s fourth postseason appearance and UCSB’s 13th postseason berth. NIU participated in the NCAA Tournament in 1982, ’91 and ’96, while the Gauchos have advanced to five NCAA Tournaments (1988, ’90, 2002, 2010 and 2011), five National Invitation Tournaments (1989, ’92, ’93, 2003 and 2008), one College Basketball Invitational (2015) and one College Insider Tournament (2012). The quarterfinal game will begin at 8 p.m. Monday in Las Vegas.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
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In Brief
Men’s tennis set to defend streak Northern Star Staff
DeKalb | Men’s tennis (14-5, 2-0 MAC) will look to remain undefeated in the conference as it takes on rival Western Michigan University (14-4, 2-0 MAC) on Friday. The Huskies have won their last four games and Western Michigan has won its last six. NIU is coming off of a 4-3 win over Ball State University on Sunday. The team is 10-3 at home and 3-0 at neutral locations. The Huskies won the last matchup between the two teams in the 2014-15 season, taking a 4-3 victory. Head coach Patrick Fisher said he understands the importance of the team’s first two conference wins. “Our first two conference games were tough and we don’t take any of them for granted,” Fisher said. “Western Michigan is the real contest though - they are a very tough team to play.” Matches are set to begin at 3 p.m. Friday in Kalamazoo, Mich.
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