Maksym Bartiuk has accomplished quite a bit in his first two years as a Huskie.

After last season’s impressive 13-6 record at one singles, he earned a 17-9 record this season while being named to his second-straight All-MAC First Team, and is the Northern Star‘s No. 10 Top Huskie athlete of 2010-11.

After a slow start to the season, Bartiuk had to fight for the top spot in the lineup with sensational freshman Axel Lagerlof, but proved to be the more worthy first singles player.

Bartiuk got off to a sluggish 3-4 start, but went 9-1 over the course of late February and March to improve to 12-5.

In just his second season, Bartiuk has proven to be one of the top players in the MAC. He has also cemented himself as one of the most successful players NIU has had, becoming only the fourth Huskie to be named to the All-MAC First Team in back-to-back seasons.

Head coach Patrick Fisher called Bartiuk the leader of the team, and thinks his success comes from his work ethic. He said that Bartiuk is always working to improve and never takes a day off.

“I like playing with my team, it’s a lot of fun,” Bartiuk said. “I just want us to win the conference. My personal goal is to win a conference championship.”