VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's tennis roared past visiting Northern Illinois 6-1 Saturday afternoon at the Bearcats Tennis Complex. With the win, BU (13-8, 4-3 MAC) clinched a berth in the upcoming Mid-American Conference championship.

Both teams entered the day with identical 3-3 conference records and only the winner would gain a spot in the postseason tournament.

The Bearcats set the tone with a quick win in doubles, using 6-3 triumphs at Nos. 1 and 2 within minutes of each other to claim the opening point. 

In singles, freshman No. 5 Valentin Bouchet was first off the court with a 6-0, 6-1 win. He improved to a team-best 21-9 on the year. After NIU got on the board with a win at second singles, freshman No. 3 Ludovico Cestarollo put the finishing touches on his 6-3, 6-4 win to put the Bearcats up 3-1. Junior No. 6 Frenk Kote clinched it with his 6-2, 7-6 win. Junior No. 4 Thomas Caputo stretched his win streak to seven with a 6-4, 6-1 victory. Cestarollo and Caputo each notched his 19th win of the season.

Senior No. 1 Sid Hazarika, playing in the final home match of his stellar career, finished off the match with a straight-set win.

"Hands down it was our best doubles performance of the year," head coach Nick Zieziula said. "All day long we were on point and kept the pressure on and it paid off in the end. I'm so proud of the way we stepped up and took care of the little things today. Everyone did their job ... we need to keep that same focus as we prepare to head out to DeKalb (Ill.) for the MAC Championship."

The Bearcats will await a tiebreaker ruling from the MAC to learn who their semfinal opponent will be. Western Michigan, Buffalo, Binghamton and Ball State have each earned bids, with Western Michigan locked into the top seed. The three remaining teams all have 4-3 records and a tiebreak system will be utilized to determine the second, third and fourth seeds. Northern Illinois is hosting the tournament for the second straight year on April 29-30.

Binghamton 6, Northern Illinois 1
DOUBLES
1. Hazarika/Cestarollo (BU) def. Manzanas/Russell (NIU), 6-3
2. Caputo/Kote (BU) def. Daun/Lundkvist (NIU), 6-3
3. Hureau/Josh Druger (BU) led Hamel/Hjertonsson (NIU), 5-4, unfinished

Order of Finish: 2,1

SINGLES
1. Sid Hazarika (BU) def. Carlos Manzanas (NIU), 7-5, 6-3
2. Georg Lundkvist (NIU) def. Eliott Hureau (BU), 6-3, 6-3
3. Ludovico Cestarollo (BU) def. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU), 6-3, 6-4
4. Thomas Caputo (BU) def. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU), 6-4, 6-1
5. Valentin Bouchet (BU) def. Kevin Daun (NIU), 6-0, 6-1
6. Frenk Kote (BU) def. Austin Russell (NIU), 6-2, 7-6 (4)

Order of Finish: 5,2,3,6,4,1