May 8, 2007

DeKalb, Ill. - The Mid-American Conference announced Northern Illinois Junior Diego Zegarra-Ballon (Segovia, Spain) has been named to the 2007 Academic All-MAC Team, as voted on by faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions.

Despite a season that was interrupted by injury Zegarra-Ballon posted a record of 7-15 in singles competition and 8-10 in doubles play while maintaining an impressive 3.69 GPA in the challenging major of industrial engineering. Zegarra-Ballon's highlight MAC singles victory came against Renan Constantino of IPFW by a score of 6-4, 6-4. Sophomore Alfonso Monroy (Mexico City, Mexico) teamed with Zegarra-Ballon to post a team best 3-2 doubles record in MAC play.

"Diego has done a really well in the classroom and on the courts since he's been here," said head coach Pontus Hiort, "He has worked very hard and it's good to see that he has gained recognition for his effort."

The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.