A season’s worth of success at the top of the men’s tennis lineup for NIU has paid off for freshman Axel Lagerlof, who was named the Mid-American Conference Newcomer of the Year on Tuesday.

Lagerlof’s recognition marks the second consecutive season that a Huskie has been named Newcomer of the Year, as now-sophomore Maksym Bartiuk won the award last year.

Lagerlof led NIU with a 17-8 overall record in singles competition, all split between the No. 1, 2, and 3 singles positions.

The freshman also teamed with Roman Turtygin for eight doubles wins on the season.

“[Lagerlof’s] come in and done everything right,” said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher in a press release. “We were not anticipating him playing as high as he did this year, but when he was called on to play at a higher spot in the lineup, he responded.”

Lagerlof’s success high in the lineup was unexpected due to him being a winter signee, having to get his bearings in NCAA competition right away.

A native of Malmo, Sweden, Lagerlof had a stretch in which he went 12-2 in singles play, from Feb. 11 to March 1.

“I think this is just another step in the building process that our program has been going through in the past two years,” Fisher said.