Mid-American Conference

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER AND DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK
 
MAC Men’s Tennis Singles Player of the Week
Maik Steiner, Western Michigan – Senior, Erbach, Germany (Gymnasium Michelstadt)
Western Michigan senior Maik Steiner helped Western Michigan improve to 7-1 on the season and pick up its fourth straight win after defeating Michigan State (5-2) on the road, the team’s second win over a Big Ten opponent this season. After dropping the doubles point, the No. 96-ranked Bronco evened the match at 2-2 after defeating Brett Forman (6-4, 6-3) at No. 1. Steiner is now 18-6 overall and 5-2 in dual play, all of which came at the one position.
 
Additional Men’s Singles Nominees:
Conner Andersen, Ball State – Junior, Greenwood, Ind. (Center Grove High School)
Ball State junior Conner Andersen clinched the Cardinals 4-3 win over Cleveland State Saturday afternoon at the Muncie YMCA Tennis Center.  Andersen dropped the first set to Gabriel Evtimov at the No. 4 spot but fought back to take sets two and three, 6-3 and 6-4 to claim the victory for Ball State.  With the win, Andersen improved to 4-2 in dual action, helping the Cardinals to an overall mark of 6-1.
 
Ethan Nittolo, Buffalo – Junior, Flushing, N.Y. (Townsend Harris High School)
Buffalo junior Ethan Nittolo had a solid weekend for the Bulls as he led UB to a 2-1 weekend in West Point.  On Saturday, Nittolo won his match at second singles in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2 as the Bulls swept the Huskies 7-0.  On Sunday, UB swept Army 4-0 in the morning.  Nittolo was leading in his match when play was stopped, but he came back in the afternoon against a tough Princeton squad and he won at second singles, 6-4, 7-5.
 
 
MAC Men’s Tennis Doubles Team of the Week
Vidit Vaghela, Buffalo – Senior, Ahmedabad, India (A.G. High School)
Petr Vodak, Buffalo – Senior, Kromeriz, Czech Republic
 
Buffalo senior Vidit Vaghela and senior Petr Vodak were perfect at first doubles this past weekend as UB went 2-1 in West Point. They began on Saturday with a 6-3 win over Justin Warren and Brady Flanagan of UConn in a 7-0 sweep of the Huskies. On Sunday morning, they won 6-4 against Michael Nguyen and Gregory Shannon from Army in what turned out to be a 4-0 win over the Black Knights.  Vaghela and Vodak held a 4-3 lead in their match against Princeton when the doubles point was clinched.
 
Additional Men’s Doubles Nominees:
Nemanja Guzina, Ball State – Junior, Toronto, Canada
Thibault De Negri, Ball State – Freshman, De Haan, Belgium
 
Ball State junior Nemanja Guzina and freshman Thibault De Negri competed against Benjamin Slade and Mirko Radosevic of Cleveland State on the top court.  Nemanja Guzina and De Negri took down Slade and Radosevic by a score of 6-2 to help the Cardinals win the doubles point over the Vikings.
 
Billy Heckman, Western Michigan – Senior, Kalamazoo, Mich. (Portage Central)
Jannik Opitz, Western Michigan – Sophomore, Hildescheim, Germany
 
Western Michigan senior Billy Heckman and sophomore Jannik Opitz picked up a doubles victory in a 5-2 win at Michigan State last Friday. Western Michigan did all of its damage in singles play defeating Michigan State 5-2 on the road but the doubles pair of Heckman and Opitz picked up the lone doubles victory. The dynamic duo mounted a 6-4 comeback win after trailing 1-4 to Michigan State’s Dube and Mukherjee at No. 2. The two are now 2-1 together this spring as the Broncos are now 7-1 overall and winners of four straight. The win was also the second win over a Big Ten opponent for Western Michigan and head coach Dave Morin this season. Back on Jan. 19, the Broncos defeated Iowa 5-2.