James Hughes may be out of the Huskies lineup, but he still has found praise within the MAC.

Tuesday Hughes won the MAC Defensive Player of the Year award.

This marked the first time in NIU history a Huskie won the honor, which is decided by MAC head coaches.

“James has been a defensive presence for our team,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “And his ability to protect the basket has improved all year.”

Hughes led the conference in shot blocking with 1.62 blocks per game. The junior collected 39 blocks in 24 games this season.

The all-time record is 42 blocks in a season set by Hubert Register (1993-1994) and Marcus Smallwood (2002-2003).

Peterson earns one last award

An average of 22.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game earned Todd Peterson the final MAC West Player of the Week award of the men’s basketball season.

The senior’s play was crucial for the Huskies as he scored more than 20 points against Ball State and Western Michigan this week.

Peterson also captured his first career double-double in his last regular season game as a Huskies. The forward scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds his 116th career game.

This is the second time this season Peterson nabbed the award after winning on Dec. 27 with 21 points against Kansas State in a 75-70 Huskies victory.

Racking it Up

Freshman Lilian Asuaje showed youth isn’t a problem last weekend when she helped guide the women’s tennis team to two 7-0 victories against Chicago State and South Dakota State.

Asuaje shut out Chicago State’s Cristina Vlase 6-0, 6-0.

Later that day, the Monterrey, Mexico native delivered another victory with a 6-1, 6-0 win over South Dakota State’s Jennifer Sondreal.

Asuaje continued her assault as she handed Taynara Moraes (Northern Iowa) her fifth loss of the season in a 6-4, 6-4 NIU win.

The one that got away

Things looked bright for the NIU men’s tennis team Saturday, even with gloomy skies overhead.

NIU was holding a 2-0 lead over Bradley due to early wins.

All NIU needed to win was to take three more matches, but things slipped away.

Bradley went on to win three of the next four matches, including a crucial tiebreaker for a third-set win.