The two had met only once before arriving on campus for the start of the fall season in August, but the shock of living with a total stranger wore off quickly.,”

It's every freshman's nightmare: the random roommate. But for Mark Rutherford and Niko Boulieris, the only two freshmen on the Marquette men's tennis team, it has turned into a stable friendship on and off the court.

The two had met only once before arriving on campus for the start of the fall season in August, but the shock of living with a total stranger wore off quickly.

"It was a pretty easy transition. Going to 6 a.m. runs and stuff like that helped us out because we always got each other up," Boulieris said.

Rutherford added: "Your schedules are almost identical, so you go through everything together, and so you're always looking out for each other and you just have each other's backs all the time."

Against Illinois-Chicago Jan. 27, the freshmen had the entire team's back. Marquette was trailing 3-2, and the only two matches still to be decided were those of Rutherford and Boulieris. Things were looking grim after Rutherford lost his first set 6-0. But the tide quickly changed as the pair's chemistry was put on full display, yelling back and forth and exchanging high-fives while retrieving balls.

"In practice we're always egging each other on and trying to get a rise out of each other, whether it's trash talking or whatever," Rutherford said. "We know how each other is feeling when we're playing side by side, so we'll try to keep talking back and forth."

Rutherford went on to win the next two sets 6-4, 6-0, and Boulieris took his match 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to give Marquette a 4-3 win. The duo's chemistry may not have been the only reason for the victory, but it certainly did not hurt.

After the match, head coach Steve Rodecap praised his freshmen.

"For (Rutherford's) maturity level as a freshman, I'm pretty excited about that," Rodecap said. "And Niko is a guy I've challenged a lot over the last week in practice. For him to step up and hit two really big serves in a pretty critical situation is pretty impressive."

The idea of cheering each other on during the match is not something the freshmen thought of themselves. According to Boulieris, it is a team concept instituted by Rodecap.

"The crowds are not always really loud in tennis," Rutherford said. "So if the other team is loud all the time, then it seems like even if it's a close match or the other team is winning, they could feel like they're losing."

Rodecap has seen plenty of freshmen on the tennis court but said Rutherford's and Boulieris' work ethic is what makes them special.

"They strive to get better on a daily basis, and that rubs off on the team," Rodecap said.

The freshmen have 2-2 records in doubles and singles play going into the weekend's matches against DePaul and Chicago St., when the team will look to put together its first consecutive wins of the season.

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