KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's tennis team placed six members of the squad on the Academic All-Mid-American Conference (MAC) Team this week the conference office announced.
WMU led the MAC with the most players on the All-MAC Academic team. Seniors Jimmy Beckwith, Andrew Cahn and Ruben Greiner all won this award for the third time, junior Matt Hamilton has his second and junior Daniel Loebel won his first. Nominees must have a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have competed in over 50% of the matches to be eligible.
The Broncos finished 20-6 overall and a perfect 11-0 at home while winning both the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Regular Season title and the MAC Tournament Championship. WMU graduated four seniors that made huge contributions to the team in Jimmy Beckwith, Andrew Cahn, Ruben Greiner and Stephen Payne.
Jimmy Beckwith: Senior, Battle Creek, Mich. (Lakeview)
Beckwith, who carries a 3.36 GPA in finance, finished 5-6 in singles and made huge contributions in doubles play, going 29-10 and earning a big win over No. 15 Illinois in the NCAA Tournament. He and partner Jefta Kecic went 15-2 together and won their final nine matches to end the season while going a perfect 6-0 in MAC play.
Andrew Cahn: Senior, West Bloomfield, Mich. (West Bloomfield)
Cahn, who holds a 3.71 GPA in marketing, finished 20-8 overall in singles play and 4-3 in doubles. He was named the team's Most Improved Player after going 16-16 in singles and 11-9 in doubles a season ago. He ended this season winning 10 of his last 12 matches including a win in the MAC Tournament.
Ruben Greiner: Senior, Wiesbaden, Germany
Greiner, who has a 3.82 GPA in finance, finished 21-6 overall in singles and 20-10 in doubles play. He and partner Stephen Payne earned the doubles point clincher in the NCAA Tournament against No. 15 Illinois. Greiner had a winning streak of 13 matches and won 17 of his last 19 matches to close out the season. He was named Second Team All-MAC for his efforts. He was also a two-time MAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Week winner.
Matt Hamilton: Junior, Wyoming, Mich. (Wyoming)
Hamilton, who carries a 3.98 GPA in finance, finished 24-9 overall in singles and 28-7 in doubles play. He ended the season winning 10 of his last 12 matches in singles and 14 of his last 17 doubles matches. He was a two-time winner of the MAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Week and was also named Second Team All-MAC. He has won the Team MVP award for two straight years.
Daniel Loebel: Junior, Hamburg, Germany
Loebel, who holds a perfect 4.00 GPA in finance, finished the season 26-11 in singles play, going 18-5 in dual matches and 5-2 in the MAC. He earned the first singles point in both MAC Tournament wins over Binghamton and Ball State. He ended the season winning 13 of his final 16 singles matches and won nine straight matches from Feb. 14 to March 25.
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Maik Steiner: Sophomore, Erbach, Germany
Steiner, who carried a 3.29 GPA in pre-management, finished the season 18-16 in singles play and led the team with a 30-10 record in doubles. He was named First Team All-MAC and won MAC Doubles Team of the Week twice this season. He and Hamilton started the season a perfect 10-0 in doubles and ended the season winning 10 of their last 12 matches.
