Green Bay, Youngstown State Tabbed #HLTennis Favorites
INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay and Youngstown State were selected to claim the men’s and women’s Horizon League tennis championships, respectively, in voting of the League’s coaches.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the poll.
Green Bay, which captured its second-consecutive regular season title last year, was tabbed the unanimous selection with six first-place votes to total 36 points. The Phoenix won the 2014 Horizon League Championship to grab their second title in the past three years.
Green Bay will look to back-to-back Horizon League Player of the Year, Michael Tenzer, to lead the squad after being ranked No. 77 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Men’s National Singles Rankings the week of Jan. 6.
Youngstown State garnered its first Horizon League title in program history last season as well as first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The Penguins were awarded three of the nine first-place votes totalling 58 points in the poll to edge last year’s runner-up Cleveland State by one.
Cleveland State, runner-up in both the men’s and women’s championships in 2014, notched the second spot in each poll. The men collected 31 points with one first-place vote while the women tallied 57 points and three of the nine first-place votes.
The Vikings return the 2014 Player and Freshman of the Year, Lauren Golick for her sophomore season.
Valparaiso took third in voting of the men’s coaches with 26 points after an impressive 2014 campaign led by underclassmen. The squad returns Freshman of the Year Jeffrey Schorsch in addition to second-team All-League honoree Dave Bacalla.
The UIC women’s squad received the remaining three first-place votes and totalled 52 points in the poll. The Flames had its streak of 17-consecutive Horizon League championships and post season appearances snapped last year.
Youngstown State took fourth in the men’s poll with 26 points while Wright State placed fifth with 17 and return first-team All-League selection Lauri Makikalli and second-team pick Dan Gilbert. Detroit tallied 10 points and UIC snagged nine to round out the men’s preseason poll.
Detroit and Milwaukee tied for fourth place with 41 points in voting by the women’s coaches. Milwaukee claimed a share of the 2014 regular season title for the first time in program history. The Titans bring back second-team member Viktoria Laskutova and look to improve on their 5-3 conference record last season.
Wright State tallied 27 points to take sixth while Oakland notched 23 points to take the seventh-place spot. The Raiders welcome back second-team honoree sophomore Linsey Verstrepen to the squad. Valparaiso garnered 14 points and Green Bay gathered 11 to round out the women’s preseason poll.
The 2015 Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships are being contested April 24-26 at the Purdue University Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind.
2015 Complete Tennis Preseason Poll
