Feb. 13, 2008

DeKalb, Illinois - The Mid-American Conference announced on Wednesday (Feb. 13) that Northern Illinois senior Alex Friesen (Vancouver, British Columbia/Burnaby Central) has been selected as the Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the period ending February 10, following his undefeated weekend against both Bradley and Illinois State.   

Friesen is the second Huskie to win this award this season, joining teammate Brian Livingston (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) who earned the award on January 30.

"This is a great honor for Alex and our program," NIU head men's tennis coach Pontus Hiort said. "He had a really good weekend against Bradley and Illinois State. It is nice to see that his hard work during the past three years are being rewarded with success on the court."

In singles play, Friesen upended Bradley's Evgeny Samolylov, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 2 singles and paired up with teammate Jimmy Chu (Lima, Peru/San Augustin) at No. 2 doubles to earn the 8-1 win over Richard Robertson and Michel Macara, pushing the Huskies to the 6-1 victory over the Braves.

The following day, Friesen and Chu extended their winning streak to five matches with an 8-4 win over Illinois State's Nuno Jacinto and Xavier Riart-Ferrer. Friesen would later defeat Jacinto at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-1.

Overall, Friesen is 14-6 in singles play, while he and Chu are 10-4 as a tandem.

NIU is back in action on Saturday, February 16, as the Huskies travel to Terre Haute, Indiana to square off with the Indiana State Sycamores. First serve is set for 3 p.m. (CST).

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