Men’s tennis’ Louis-Philippe Hamel has proven to be one of the Huskies’ most consistent players in his freshman season.

Hailing from Drummondville, Quebec, Hamels came to the United States to play college tennis at NIU.

“I heard about this school in Canada, and I always wanted to play and compete for the Huskies,” Hamel said.

Hamel is the youngest of the Huskies at 18, and it showed early in his play. Hamel struggled in the fall, going 5-5 in his first 10 games, but he has managed to turn it around.

Hamel is 20-9 for the season and is 15-4 in the spring after starting. The MAC Championships begin Friday and end Saturday in DeKalb.

Q: How would you rate your season so far?

A: … I started the season really slow, but I found some momentum and have been playing very well lately.

Q: Who will you give the credit to for having a very good freshman season?

A: I’m giving the credit to Frederic [Cadieux] and Simon [Formont] for the reason why I’m having a good season. … They really helped the underclassmen on how to compete at a high level, and they showed me how to put in the time and effort to becoming an ideal collegiate athlete.

Also, coach [Patrick] Fisher and our assistant coach [Maksym Bartiuk] helped me on understanding and preparing for a tennis match on a collegiate level.

Q: Do you feel that the team has what it takes to finally win the MAC Championships?

A: Of course I believe we have what it takes. We’re a young team, but we’re ready. We learned a lot this season playing and winning tough matches. We as a team believe that we can pull it off.