KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's tennis team is excited to start the 2016-17 season off with the WMU/Vredevelt Invitational from Saturday, Sept. 24 to Sunday, Sept. 25 at Sorensen Courts or West Hills (depending on weather) with both days slated to start at 9 a.m.
"We are trying to find out just what level our new guys are at and this is the nice thing about our season being second semester, we can have true freshman come in and compete before the actual season," head coach Dave Morin said. "I like where we are at as a team and I like the fact that we have three lefties. That causes a lot of confusion for opposing teams."
The 2016-17 Broncos have a total of 10 student-athletes, including two seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen. The seniors, Matt Hamilton and Daniel Loebel, were named the team captains after each having very successful junior campaigns. Hamilton was named the Team MVP and was selected as Second Team All-Mid-American Conference (MAC) while Loebel finished 26-11 in singles play at was named to the All-MAC Tournament team. The juniors include First Team All-MAC selection Maik Steiner and Grand Valley State transfer Billy Heckman. Sophomores are Matej Svjetlicic, the Team's Newcomer of the Year, Eric Olivarez, Nick Schnobel and Kris Knof, a transfer from ASA-Miami. Newcomers to the team are Kennosuke Nouchi and Jannik Opitz.
Last season, the Broncos won their 11th MAC Tournament championship and 23rd MAC regular season championship after finishing 20-6 overall and 6-1 in the MAC. WMU advanced to the Illinois NCAA Regional and fell to No. 15 Illinois. Morin, who is now in his 21st season with WMU, was named the MAC Coach of the Year for the 10th time in his career.
At this weekend's WMU/Vredevelt Invitational, the first of two home tournaments for WMU, will be Cleveland State, Illinois State and Xavier. The teams will be playing the tournament in a hidden dual format.
Entrance to all home WMU Tennis events are free of charge. Fans are welcome to park in the parking structure above the courts on W. Michigan Ave.
Follow the Broncos on Twitter @WMUMensTennis for all updates about the team!
