The Northern Illinois men’s tennis team traveled Wednesday to South Bend, Ind., ahead of today’s singles qualifying round in the ITA Midwest Regional tournament, hosted by Notre Dame.
The tournament ends Tuesday, Oct. 26.
Head coach Patrick Fisher will bring four players with him to the competition: junior Roman Turtygin, sophomores Maksym Bartiuk and Maximilian Phillips, and freshman Maksym Lagutin.
Compared to a month ago at the Ball State Invitational, Fisher says his team is feeling better and looks forward to what the guys can do.
“I think we’re in better shape than we were,” Fisher said. “We’re all 100 percent healthy, which we were battling earlier in the fall. That may have held us back, but this month off has helped us get healthy, and get in better shape so we could improve our game.”
The players will have the opportunity to show off those improvements as the best of the Midwest will be on display in South Bend.
“For all of our guys, it’s the first time they’ve played in a tournament like this,” Fisher said. “It’ll give us great experience playing against some of the best players in the country, which will give us a better idea heading into the off-season of where we’re at and what we’re going to need to work on moving forward in preparation for the spring season.”
Lagutin began play for the Huskies in this morning’s qualifying round. Phillips and Turtygin will follow at 10:30 a.m., while Bartiuk will have the day off before his first-round match Friday.
For more information on NIU men’s tennis and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
