DeKalb Times

Oliver Valentinsson of the Northern Illinois University men's tennis team was named the Mid-American Conference Singles Player of the Week, announced by the league office on Thursday (March 16). Valentinsson won both of his singles matches on the first weekend of conference play as he improved to 10-2 in dual matches this season, including 4-0 when playing at number one. 

The Malmo, Sweden, native began the league slate with a come from behind, three-set victory over Buffalo's Aleksandr Kalinin, winning 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to help the Huskies to a 4-3 win in the conference opener (March 10). Valentinsson then dropped just three games in a dominant, 6-1, 6-2, win against Michael Pawlowicz of Binghamton as NIU downed the Bearcats, 6-1 (March 12). 

Valentinsson, who also paired with Armin Koschtojan to win his doubles matches against Buffalo and Binghamton, has won seven consecutive singles matches along with four-straight doubles matchups while paired with Koschtojan. As a team, NIU is 10-4 on the season, with a 2-0 mark in conference play. 

This is the second weekly conference honor for Valentinsson, who was named MAC Singles Player of the Week on Feb. 24, 2021. It is also the second weekend award of the season for the Huskies as Mikael Vollbach and Cheng En Tsai were named the MAC Doubles Team of the Week on Feb. 16. 

NIU returns to action on the road this weekend as the Huskies travel to Toledo on Friday, March 17, at 1 p.m. CT, and Ball State on Sunday, March 19, at 12 p.m. CT. 

Original source can be found here.