Cleveland, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced the 2021 Men’s Tennis All-MAC First and Second Teams and specialty awards, including the Player, Newcomer and Coach of the Year, as well as the Jack Vredevelt Sportsmanship Award.

Western Michigan men's tennis senior Jannik Opitz has been named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, while head coach Dave Morin has been named the MAC Coach of the Year as the conference released the yearly honors on Monday afternoon.

Opitz becomes the first player in program history to earn his second MAC Player of the Year award after also winning it in 2019. The Hildesheim, Germany, native went 20-2 overall in singles play at No. 1 and 9-0 in the MAC en route to helping WMU win the MAC Regular Season Championship. In doubles he was 19-4 and 6-2 in conference play. This is also the third time that Opitz has earned First Team All-MAC honors. He ends his career as the all-time leader in total wins in program history with 240, the all-time singles wins leader with 120 and the all-time doubles wins leader with 120.
 
Morin earns his 12th MAC Coach of the Year honors after leading the Broncos to a 22-2 overall record and a perfect 9-0 mark in MAC play. Morin coached the Broncos to the MAC Regular Season Championship for the 11th time in his career and the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time.

Mikael Vollbach had a team-best 19-1 record in singles matches, including an 8-1 mark in conference. Vollbach won his first 18 decisions of the season and dropped just seven sets all year in singles matches. The freshman from Finland added 12 more wins in doubles, playing with Muzar, with seven of those victories coming at number one. 

The seventh Huskie to earn MAC Freshman/Newcomer of the Year honors, Vollbach joins: Eric Martinez (2002), Brian Livingston (2006), Pawel Poziomski (2009), Maksym Bartiuk (2010), Axel Lagerlof (2011) and Ortega (2018). 

Toledo senior Senior Thawin Suksathaporn and sophomore Krzysztof Wetoszka have been named Second Team All-MAC, the conference office announced on Monday. Suksathaporn was also named the league's Jack Vredevelt Sportsmanship Award winner.

All-MAC First Team
Danilo Kovacevic, Ball State
Thibault DeNegri, Ball State
Bor Muzar, NIU
Kris Ortega, NIU
Jannik Opitz, Western Michigan
Peter Kuszynski, Western Michigan 

All-MAC Second Team
Chris Adams, Ball State
Bjoren Petersen, Buffalo 
Oliver Valentinsson?, NIU
Thawin Suksathaporn, Toledo 
Krzysztof Wetoszka, Toledo
Fynn Lohse, Western Michigan 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jannik Opitz, Western Michigan
COACH OF THE YEAR: Dave Morin, Western Michigan
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Mikael Vollbach, NIU
JACK VREDEVELT SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Thawin Suksathaporn, Toledo