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Maksym Bartiuk named MAC Player of the Week

February 23, 2011

Sophomore Maksym Bartiuk of the Northern Illinois men’s tennis team was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Week by the league office on Wednesday afternoon.

Maksym Bartiuk

NIU sophomore Maksym Bartiuk reaches for a backhand shot during a match last fall.

Bartiuk earned a pair of singles victories playing at first singles for the Huskies against Eastern Illinois and Northwestern. He also claimed a doubles victory along with freshman Maksym Lagutin against EIU.

In singles play, Bartiuk opened the weekend on Friday with a straight-sets victory, 7-5, 6-1, over Eastern Illinois’ Michael Sperry, helping the Huskies earn a 6-1 dual match victory over the Panthers. Bartiuk and Lagutin also defeated EIU’s Jamie Firth and Matyas Hilgart, 8-4, at number one doubles.

The following day, Bartiuk won a tight three-set match against Joshua Graves of No. 69-ranked Northwestern. Bartiuk took the first set handily, 6-1, before dropping the second, 3-6, but recovered to win the third set 7-5. The victory improved Bartiuk’s singles record to 5-4 this spring.

Bartiuk’s weekly honor was the first of the season for the Huskies and the second for Bartiuk in his career. The sophomore was also named MAC Player of the Week on April 14, 2010.

The Huskies return to action this weekend with a pair of road matches. NIU travels to Saint Louis University on Friday, Feb. 25, before meeting Southern Illinois in Carbondale on Sunday, Feb. 27.