CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Western Michigan men's tennis team was picked to be crowned the Mid-American Conference Regular Season Champions according to the Preseason Coaches' Poll, which is voted on by the leagues' head coaches.

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The Broncos took home 34 total votes, followed by the 2017 MAC Tournament champions Buffalo (32), Northern Illinois (21), Ball State (19), Toledo (11) and Binghamton (9). Buffalo was tabbed to capture the MAC Tournament with three votes followed by WMU with two and NIU receiving a vote.

Last season Western Michigan finished second in the conference before falling 4-3 to the Bulls in the MAC championship. The Broncos finished 16-8 overall, 6-1 in the conference and 11-4 at home last season and return sophomore Kennosuke Nouchi, who was named to the 2017 All-MAC First Team and MAC Newcomer of the Year after posting a 6-1 MAC record in singles, 16-6 overall and a 2-2 mark in MAC doubles, including a 13-6 overall.

The Brown and Gold competed in six tournaments during the fall along with Nouchi playing in the prestigious Oracle ITA Masters back in September. As a team, the Broncos went 88-66 in singles and 36-29 in doubles. Senior Maik Steiner, who is currently No. 65 in the latest Oracle/ITA Division I Men's National Singles Ranking, led WMU with a 13-4 record in singles. Right behind Steiner was sophomore Jannik Opitz with a 11-5 record while junior transfer Lenhard Haupt owned a 9-6 fall record.

In doubles play, partners Eric Olivarez and Nick Schnobel lead WMU with a 6-3 record in the fall while Opitz and Steiner were second on the team with a record of 5-3.

The Broncos began the spring season last Sunday, defeating Xavier (6-1) and Detroit Mercy (5-2) inside the West Hills Athletic Club and will hit the road this weekend facing Iowa (Jan. 19), Drake (Jan. 20) and Tennessee Tech (Jan. 21). The next home matches are set for Sunday, Jan. 28 against Butler at 9 a.m. and Illinois at 2:30 p.m. Admission to all men's tennis matches is free.