2008 HUSKIE MEN’S TENNIS NIU Men’s Tennis Quick Facts TABLE OF CONTENTS General Head Coach Pontus Hiort ....................................2 Location........................................................ DeKalb, Illinois Roster / Assistant Coach Brandon Lenfert ..............3 Founded .................................................................... 1895 2008 Spring Outlook ......................................4-5 Enrollment ............................................................. 25,254 Nickname ...............................................................Huskies Javier Bernabe / Jimmy Chu ................................6 Colors .....................................................Cardinal and Black Adam Ford / Alex Friesen ...................................7 Affi liation ...................................................NCAA Division I Matt Hansen / Brian Livingston ............................8 Conference .................................................... Mid-American Alfonso Monroy / Diego Zegarra-Ballón ...............9 Facility ........................................................ Gullikson Courts Huskie Records ................................................10 President .......................................................Dr. John Peters Associate V.P./Director of Athletics ............Dr. Jim Phillips Huskie Honor Roll .............................................11 Huskie Letterwinners .........................................12 Staff Head Coach ......................................................Pontus Hiort Alma Mater ...........................................Murray State, 1996 2008 SCHEDULE Years as Head Coach..................................................Five Date Opponent Location Time Years at NIU (Overall) ............................................ Eleven 1/20 vs. IUPUI Milwaukee, Wis. 10 a.m. Phone ......................................................... (815) 753-6845 1/26 at Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 3 p.m. E-Mail ........................................................... [email protected] 1/27 at Wisconsin Madison, Wis. 10 a.m. Assistant Coach .......................................... Brandon Lenfert 2/9 at Bradley Peoria, Ill. 1 p.m. Alma Mater .........................................Eastern Illinois, 2007 2/10 vs. Illinois State ! Rockford, Ill. 1 p.m. Years at NIU ................................................................First 2/16 at Indiana State Terre Haute, Ind. 3 p.m. E-Mail .........................................................blenfert@niu.edu 2/23 vs. Valparaiso ! Rockford, Ill. 1 p.m. Athletics Trainer .............................................Tricia Schank 2/24 vs. Western Illinois ! Rockford, Ill. 1 p.m. Sport Administrator ................................... Shelley Binegar 2/29 vs. UW-Green Bay $ Rockford, Ill. 4 p.m. 3/1 vs. Eastern Illinois ! Rockford, Ill. 1 p.m. 3/10 at Eckerd St. Petersburg, Fla. 2 p.m. Team 3/12 at Flagler St. Augustine, Fla. 1:30 p.m. 2007 Dual Match Record ........................................ 10-12 3/22 at DePaul Chicago, Ill. 1 p.m. 2007 MAC Record ....................................................... 1-4 3/29 vs. Southern Illinois DeKalb, Ill. 1 p.m. 2007 MAC Finish ................................................ Semifi nals 4/5 vs. Buffalo # DeKalb, Ill. 1 p.m. Letterwinners Returning/Lost ................................... 7/0 4/6 vs. Ball State # DeKalb, Ill. 1 p.m. Newcomers..................................................................... 2 4/13 vs. Toledo # DeKalb, Ill. 1 p.m. 4/16 vs. Chicago State # DeKalb, Ill. 1:30 p.m. Credits: The 2007-08 Northern Illinois Men’s and Women’s 4/17 vs. IPFW DeKalb, Ill. 2 p.m. 4/19 at Western Michigan # Kalamazoo, Mich. 1 p.m. Tennis Media Guide is a product of the NIU Athletics Media 4/24 MAC Championships DeKalb, Ill. 1 p.m. Relations Offi ce. Editors: Matt Brendich and Joe Summins; As- 4/25 MAC Championships DeKalb, Ill. 1 p.m. sistant Editors: David Brauer, Russell Houghtaling, Zach Peters 4/26 MAC Championships DeKalb, Ill. 1 p.m. and Donna Turner; Contributors: Ben Killam, Northern Illinios University Public Relations. Photography: Scott Walstrom; Ad- Bold denotes home match ditional Photography: NIU Media Services (Gordon Means, All times Central and subject to change. Barry Stark, Keith Lowman, George Tarbay, Don Butler, Bob # Denotes Mid-American Conference match Banke, Wade Duerkes, Phil Mascione), NIU Media Relations ! Held at Clock Tower Racquet Club Archives. 7801 East State Street, Rockford, Illinois, 61108 $ Held at Boylan Tennis Center Printing: Barnaby Printing, Sycamore, Illinois. 4000 St. Francis Drive, Rockford, Illinois, 61103 The 2007-08 NIU Men’s and Women’s Tennis Media Guide is designed for media, fans and prospective student-athletes to provide information on Northern Illinois University and Huskie Tennis. Copies of this publication are available to the general public for $10. 2007-08 NORTHERN ILLINOIS TENNIS 1 NIU HEAD COACH PONTUS HIORT of the Year. Upon losing key contributors like Gali, the 2005-06 men’s tennis team found itself in a rebuilding mode that saw a true freshman as- Pontus Hiort cend to the No. 1 singles position for the Huskies. Under Hiort’s able tutelage, freshman Brian Livingston became one of the most successful Head Coach fi rst-year singles competitors in the history of the program. Hiort guided Livingston to a 20-win season, garnering second team All-MAC honors Fifth Season and the MAC Newcomer of the Year trophy. Throughout the course of the 2006-07 season, Hiort and the Huskies endured a challenging schedule as they squared off against four nation- Murray State ally-ranked opponents, including the 38th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, University ‘96 en route to a 10-12 record in match play. The young team struggled early but bounced back to fi nish the season strong by winning four of the last six matches, including a fi rst round victory over Buffalo at the MAC Championships. In four seasons at the helm of the NIU Men’s Tennis program, Pontus Hiort has tutored some of greatest tennis players in NIU men’s ten- Hiort has led his teams to a 48-43 overall record in match play, includ- nis history, including Gali and Livingston. Throughout Hiort’s tenure as ing an 18-6 mark in his fi rst year. Last season, Hiort’s senior-less team head and assistant coach, he has worked with seven different players fi nished with a 10-12 record and advanced to the semi-fi nals of the that earned All-MAC notoriety, three Vredevelt Sportsmanship Award MAC Men’s Tennis Championships for the third year in a row. His Hus- winners, two MAC Newcomers of the Year and one MAC Player of kies have posted double-digit win totals in three of his four seasons. the Year. Hiort began his coaching career at Northern Illinois University as a During his time as former head coach Steven Rodecap’s right-hand volunteer coach in 1997-98, and ultimately became the head men’s man, Hiort helped lead the Huskies to three consecutive winning sea- tennis coach in 2003-04. Hiort did double-duty as the head coach for sons starting in 2000-01. He was on hand as NIU charted new ter- the NIU women’s tennis team from 2004-06. ritory by making the school’s fi rst appearance in the MAC champion- In Hiort’s fi rst season as the head coach of the NIU men’s program, ship match in 2003-04 after upsetting Western Michigan University on the native of Sweden led the Huskies to an 18-6 overall record, a NIU’s very own Gullikson Courts in the league semifi nals. national ranking as high as 73rd and their second consecutive berth A veteran of major tournaments in his native Sweden as a player, in the Mid-American Conference Championship match. The run to the Hiort brought extensive tennis knowledge gained as a competitor. In MAC summit included NIU’s fi rst victory over perennial league power fact, Hiort at one-time earned a ranking of No. 89 in Sweden. and tourney host Ball State since April 20, 1974. On the collegiate level, Hiort played No. 1 and No. 2 singles for Hiort followed up his highly-successful rookie campaign with a solid Murray State University from 1992-96 and garnered All-Ohio Valley 13-10 record season in 2005 where he coached one of the greatest Conference honors while also earning the 1996 OVC Scholar-Athlete individual performances in the history of NIU men’s tennis. That sea- of the Year honor. son, Wily Gali (2004-05) recorded 31 singles victories, the third-high- Hiort received a Bachelor of Arts degree for history and German in est single-season total in school history. Gali was named First Team 1995. He completed his master’s degree in history from MSU in 1997 All-MAC, earned The Vredevelt Sportsman of the Year Award and was and earned a Ph.D. in history from NIU in 2007. the fi rst player in NIU men’s tennis history to be named MAC Player HIORT’S CAREER COACHING RECORD Overall Conference Year W L W L 2004 18 6 3 2 2005 13 10 2 3 2006 6 14 1 4 2007 10 12 1 4 Totals 47 42 7 13 * Advanced to the MAC Semifi nals three-straight years. * Advanced to the MAC Championship in 2004. 2 2007-08 NORTHERN ILLINOIS TENNIS MEET THE HUSKIES (L-R): Alfonso Monroy, Diego Zegarra-Ballon, Brian Livingston, Alex Friesen, Matt Hanson, Jimmy Chu, Adam Ford, Javier Bernabe. Not pictured: Shaun Stewart. Name Height Year Hometown/High School/Last School Javier Bernabe 5-11 Sophomore Segovia, Spain/IES Mariano Quintanilla Jimmy Chu 5-11 Junior Lima, Peru/San Augustin Adam Ford 5-10 Senior Grand Rapids, Michigan/Forest Hills Central Alex Friesen 6-3 Senior Vancouver, British Columbia/Burnaby Central Matt