In its final tune-up before the conference season, the SIU men’s tennis team was swept to end its two-game winning streak.

The Salukis, whose record dropped to 7-8 after a pair of weekend losses, entered the matches with positive momentum in tow after wins against Saint Louis, and SIU-Edwardsville gave SIU its first winning streak since defeating Western Illinois and Murray State on March 2 and 5.

Northern Illinois avenged its 2007 loss against the Salukis in Carbondale with a 7-0 win in Rockford on Saturday while falling to Illinois-Chicago 4-2 Sunday.

The Huskies’ No. 1 player Brian Livingston downed Lucas Waked, snapping Waked’s three-match winning streak. After losing the first set 4-6, Livingston came back beating Waked in the second and third sets 6-1, 6-3.

Livingston also teamed with Adam Ford to defeat Waked and his partner Anton Leonenko, 8-0, in No. 1 doubles action.

NIU coach Pontus Hiort said in a post-match press release he was happy with how the team rebounded from its 5-2 loss against DePaul.

“We competed really well,” Hiort said. “I was very pleased with the tough, gritty tennis that we played.”

In the second game of the road trip, SIU fell to Illinois-Chicago, 4-2, in its final non-conference match of the season. Waked rebounded from Saturday’s loss at NIU with a 6-3, 6-3 win against the Flames’ Sebastian Lystad, who came into the match winning three of his last five matches.

Sebastian Rubiano’s 6-0, 6-3 victory against Danny Wilson in No. 5 singles accounted for the Salukis’ other point in the match.

SIU competed shorthanded Saturday and Sunday, forfeiting its last three No. 6 singles matches and last two No. 3 doubles matches since Chase Miller has been absent from the team.

Miller has been absent since Wednesday’s home match against SIUE.

Head coach Dann Nelson said he was not pleased with his team’s performance against the Huskies and Flames.

“Lucas (Waked) played the best I’ve ever seen him play, but we didn’t get that kind of level of play from the rest of the team,” Nelson said. “It was disappointing, seeing that we beat those teams the last two years straight.”

The Salukis kick off their conference season when it returns to the court Thursday against Indiana State.

Luis C. Medina can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 238 or [email protected].