May 7, 2008

DeKalb, Illinois - The Mid-American Conference announced the 2008 Academic All-MAC Men's Tennis team on Wednesday, and Northern Illinois dominated the list, accounting for five of the ten positions on the squad.

The team is voted on by the league's faculty athletics representatives and each student must carry a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2. The Huskie men's tennis team currently holds the second highest cumulative GPA among NIU squads at 3.293.

"I'm very pleased with our student-athletes receiving this honor," NIU head men's tennis coach Pontus Hiort said. "To be representative in such great numbers on the Academic All-MAC team is a testament to our players' hard work both on the court and in the classroom."

Prior to this season, NIU had had six players total who were named to the Academic All-MAC squad since the Huskies' return to the Mid-American Conference in 1997.

One of those players, senior Diego Zegarra-Ballon (Lima, Peru/Markham College Prep) was a repeat selection from 2007. Zegarra-Ballon, an Industrial Engineering major with a 3.72 GPA, competed primarily at No. 3 doubles with freshman Matt Hansen (Topeka, Kansas/Miami Online (FL)). The duo finished the campaign with a mark of 6-4.

Senior Alex Friesen (Vancouver, B.C./Burnaby Central) also earned his third post-season honor after being named to the Academic All-MAC squad.

Friesen, who was a first-team All-MAC selection and the recipient of the Jack Vredevelt Sportsmanship award, led the Huskies with 25 wins in singles action.

An Accounting major with a 3.28 GPA, Friesen paired up with fellow Academic All-MAC selection, Jimmy Chu (Lima, Peru/San Augustin) for a team-best 22 wins at No. 2 doubles. That included a 13-match winning streak which was the longest in Huskie history since 1981 when Pete Burkhart and Jeff D'Adamo won all 20 of their matches.

Chu, a Finance major with a 3.32 GPA, competed primarily at No. 4 singles for the Huskies and compiled an overall record of 18-11 on the campaign.

Sophomore Javier Bernabe (Segovia, Spain/IES Mariano Quintanilla) earned Academic All-MAC honors after posting a 3.47 GPA as a Business major. Bernabe split time at No. 5 and No. 6 singles and finished the season with an overall mark of 17-10. During the fall season, Bernabe picked up a pair of titles at the Drake Invitational (B-Flight) and Marquette Fall Invitational (B-Flight Consolation).

Junior Alfonso Monroy (Mexico City, Mexico) rounds out the Academic All-MAC selections for the Huskies, as the Mexico native owns a 3.53 GPA as a Business major. The highlight of the season for Monroy was when he and Zegarra-Ballon placed second overall in the Flight B Doubles Tournament of the Marquette Fall Tennis Invitational. That duo also teamed up to defeat Wisconsin's Michael Muskievicz and Peter Marrack (9-7) in dual meet action.

Other players on the Academic All-MAC squad include Chicago State's Prakoso Immanuel, Toledo's Jared Miller and Western Michigan's Alex Birchmeier, Alejandro Staub and Bryan Norville.

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