BUFFALO, NY - The Northern Illinois Huskies and the Western Michigan Broncos won their opening matches at the Mid-American Conference Men's Tennis Championship this afternoon, hosted by the University at Buffalo, to advance to tomorrow's semifinal matches. Due to rainy conditions, both matches were moved indoors, with NIU and Toledo playing at Sportsplex in North Tonawanda, NY and Western Michigan and Buffalo playing at the Village Glen Tennis and Fitness Club in Williamsville, NY.

The fourth-seeded Huskies (13-9) took the doubles point and won three singles matches en route to earning a 4-1 win over the Rockets. Toledo's (9-13) lone point came at the second singles spot with Pete Baghdati earning a three-set win over Juan Pablo Barriga. The Huskies advance to the semifinals where they will play top-seeded Bowling Green.

Fery Kasiman

The Broncos (13-12) swept the University at Buffalo, taking the doubles point with a hard-fought 9-7 win at No. 1 doubles by Ravi Pathanjali and Ryan Maarschalk over Fery Kasiman (Jakarta, Indonesia/ERI International Academy) and Justin Brtko (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East), before sweeping three singles matches for a 4-0 win. The Bulls end their season with a 10-11 overall record while Western Michigan advances to play second-seeded Ball State in tomorrow's semifinals.

Tomorrow's semifinal matches are scheduled to be played at the UB Tennis Center, with Bowling Green and Northern Illinois beginning at 11 am, followed by Ball State and Western Michigan at 2 pm. In the case of inclement weather, the matches will be moved to the Village Glen Tennis and Fitness Club, beginning at 2 pm.

2002 Mid-American Conference Men's Tennis Championship
Hosted by the University at Buffalo

Match 1 - No. 4 Northern Illinois 4, No. 5 Toledo 1
Singles
No. 1 - Raymond van Wasbeek (NIU) defeated Dipesh Rao (UT), 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 - Pete Baghdati (UT) defeated Juan Pablo Barriga (NIU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 - Erick Martinez (NIU) defeated Khalid Al Nabhani (UT), 6-7, 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 - Aaron Forsberg (NIU) defeated Tony Tran (UT), 6-3, 7-5
No. 5 - Jon Perlman (NIU) vs. Matt Llewellyn (UT), did not finish
No. 6 - David Pickel (NIU) vs. Todd Wojtkowski (UT), did not finish
Doubles
No. 1 - Raymond van Wasbeek/Aaron Forsberg (NIU) defeated Pete Baghdati/Matt Llewellyn (UT), 8-5
No. 2 - Juan Pablo Barriga/Erick Martinez (NIU) defeated Tony Tran/Khalid Al Nabhani (UT), 8-4
No. 3 - Dipesh Rao/Todd Wojtkowski (UT) defeated Jon Perlman/Paul Glendenning (NIU), 8-4

Match 2 - No. 3 Western Michigan 4, No. 6 Buffalo 0
Singles
No. 1 - Ravishankar Pathanjali (WMU) defeated Fery Kasiman (UB), 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 - Ryan Maarschalk (WMU) defeated Randy Rocchio (UB), 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 - Christian Brattstrom (WMU) vs. Nick Zieziula (UB), did not finish
No. 4 - Justin Kates (WMU) vs. Justin Brtko (UB), did not finish
No. 5 - Erik Lindroos (WMU) defeated Josh Liederman (UB), 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 - Tom Dennis (WMU) vs. Sean Kelley (UB) - did not finish
Doubles
No. 1 - Ravishankar Pathanjali/Ryan Maarschalk (WMU) defeated Fery Kasiman/Justin Brtko (UB), 9-7
No. 2 - Christian Brattstrom/Tom Dennis (WMU) vs. Randy Rocchio/Nick Zieziula (UB), did not finish
No. 3 - Dan Grupp/Mike Findling (WMU) defeated Josh Liederman/Rohan Raikar (UB), 8-6