The Northern Illinois University men’s tennis team won its second consecutive match to begin the season, defeating Illinois State, 4-3, on Saturday evening.

Saturday’s match opened competitively with the Huskies needing a 7-5 clinch on court two in doubles to take a 1-0 lead. Lorenzo Leti Messina / Iker Dellien Velasco secured the doubles for NIU.

Shifting to singles, Leti Messina (Rome, Italy/North Florida) once again came through for NIU with a 6-3, 6-0 victory. Senior Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (Pamplona, Spain/Jesuitas) put the Huskies in striking distance to close the match, winning 6-2, 6-3 to give NIU a 3-1 advantage.

Sophomore Chiao Bo Suo Nan (Taiwan/Taipei Municipal Jianguo) clinched the match for the Huskies with a 6-4, 6-3 win in the No. 5 spot.

NIU will next play on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. when the Huskies host Xavier.

Doubles
Iker Arrastia/Federico Scotuzzi def. Adrian Dibildox/Tomas Valencia (ILS) 6-3
Iker Dellien/Lorenzo Leti Messina def. Tin Ostro/Caden Scarlett (ILS) 7-5
Christian Capacci/Finn Logue (ILSM) def. Pratyaksh LNU/Chiao Bo Suo Nan 6-4

Singles
Iker Arrastia def. Tomas Valencia (ILS) 6-2, 6-3
Adrian Dibildox (ILS) def. Iker Dellien 6-1, 6-2
Lorenzo Leti Messina def. Christian Capacci (ILS) 6-3, 6-0
Tin Ostro (ILS) def. Federico Scotuzzi 6-4, 6-1
Chiao Bo Suo Nan def. Finn Logue (ILS) 6-4, 6-3
Caden Scarlett (ILS) def. Pratyaksh LNU 2-6, 6-0, 7-6