Fairleigh Dickinson University men's tennis player Sven Sjoerds (Gendt, Netherlands/Over Betuwe College Bemmel) claims the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week award, announced by the league on Tuesday.

In a battle between Garden State rivals, Sjoerds bested Monmouth sophomore Laurence Heads, the reigning NEC Rookie of the Year, in the qualifying bracket at the ITA Regional Championships in Hanover, NH.  The FDU freshman won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, over Heads, who was a perfect 6-0 against NEC opponents during his rookie year of 2008-09. 

Sjoerds was unable to play his way into the ITA main draw as he lost in three sets to the qualifying bracket's No. 4 seed Michael Laser, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.