KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan men's tennis team saw some familiar names in the
Oracle/ITA Division I Men's Tennis Rankings that were distributed Jan. 5, 2016. The doubles team of senior Stephen Payne and sophomore Jefta Kecic headlined the group being ranked the No. 37 doubles team in the Men's National Doubles Rankings after coming in on the preseason rankings unranked.

"Jefta and Stephen had some very impressive results this fall, and their national ranking is well deserved," Head coach Dave Morin said. "We struggled with our double play last year, and it's good to know that we have a quality team that can play with any team on our schedule."

This season, Payne and Kecic have started off 3-1 and earned a win over then ranked No. 55 ranked Jeffrey Schorsch and Charlie Emhardt of Valpo in the WMU/Vredevelt Invitational. Schorsch and Emhardt received the ranking of No. 33 in this poll. They are the only members of the MAC (Mid-American Conference) to make the list. Overall, Payne is 10-4 and Kecic, who earned First Team All-MAC last season, is 6-2 in doubles play after the fall tournaments.

In the Midwest Regional rankings, Payne and Kecic are the No. 5 ranked doubles team while teammates Matt Hamilton and Maik Steiner were ranked No. 9. The duo of Hamilton and Steiner are off to a 12-3 start and started the fall season 10-0.

Individually, Steiner is ranked No. 20 in the Midwest after starting the season out 8-6. Steiner is coming off a year in which he was named MAC Newcomer of the Year and earned First Team All-MAC.

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