Men's Tennis | April 25

Cleveland, Ohio – Northern Illinois University freshman Saul Berdullas (Santiage de Compostela, Spain) was named the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year and seniors Cheng En Tsai (Taipei, Taiwan) and Mikael Vollbach (Rothis, Austria) earned First Team All-MAC honors as the league released its 2024 men's tennis award winners Thursday.  

Berdullas posted a 17-5 record in his first year with the Huskies and went 8-2 versus MAC competition. Berdullas worked his way into the No. 3 singles position for NIU in 12 of the Huskies' duals. He also competed at No. 2 doubles with Armin Koschtojan (Halle (Saale), Germany); the duo posted a record of 9-13. 

"Earning freshman of the year was one of Saul's big goals," head coach René Vidal said. "Saul has the psychology of a champion and there's no doubt in my mind that he will become a nationally ranked collegiate player in the near future."

Tsai posted a 15-6 singles record in 2024 and a 14-6 record at No. 1 singles for NIU. He was 13-15 in singles in 2023, his first season as a Huskie. He finished his Huskie career with a singles record of 28-21 and a doubles mark of 35-17.

"Roger is an incredible talent," Vidal said. "His ability to focus and simply enjoy the game this season helped himself and the team produce excellent results."

Vollbach, who was named to the All-MAC second team in 2023, went 14-9 in singles in 2024 while competing primarily on the second line for NIU. He completed his NIU career after five seasons with a 75-36 singles record and was 64-41 in doubles. Vollbach posted a 19-1 record in 2020 before the season was cut short.

"Mikael deserves much success," Vidal said. "His work ethic, grit, and willingness to take risks paid off individually and collectively for Huskie Tennis."

The pair of All-MAC first team recipients also played in 23 duals at No. 1 doubles together and went 15-8.

Berdullas is the first Huskie to be named MAC Freshman of the Year since Vollbach earned the honor in 2021.

The Huskies finished the 2024 dual match campaign 18-6 overall and 7-3 in MAC play. NIU earned the second seed in the MAC Championship Tournament.

-- NIU --