KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's tennis team is excited to start the 2017-18 season off with the WMU/Vredevelt Invitational from Saturday, Sept. 23 to Sunday, Sept. 25 at Sorensen Courts with Saturday set to begin at 9 a.m. and Sunday at 8:30 a.m.
 
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"The guys have had a good couple of weeks of practice, and we're all excited to kick off our fall season this weekend," commented WMU head coach Dave Morin. "We have a good mix of teams in the tournament highlighted by Valparaiso and Butler who won their conference tournaments last year and participated in the NCAA team championships."

At this weekend's WMU/Vredevelt Invitational, the first of two home tournaments for the Broncos, will be 2017 NCAA Tournament teams Butler and Valparaiso, University of Chicago, 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.
 
Pablo Nuñez joins the Bronco coaching staff with 10-time MAC Head Coach of the Year Dave Morin. Last season the Broncos continued their MAC dominance, going 16-8 overall and 6-1 in conference play as Western Michigan propelled their way to the MAC Championship but fell in a 4-3 heartbreaker to the Buffalo Bulls.

The Bronco squad features 10 student-athletes, including two seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and a freshman.

The seniors, Billy Heckman and Maik Steiner, were named team captains after having successful junior seasons. Heckman finished 4-3 in singles and went 19-8 in doubles play, including a 10-3 record in dual matches. Steiner went 17-12 in singles including a 12-8 record in dual matches.   

The juniors include USC Upstate transfer Lenhard Haupt, Kris Knof, the Team's Most Improved Player of the Year Eric Olivarez, Nick Schnobel and Matej Svjetlicic.

Sophomores are Kennosuke Nouchi and Jannik Opitz. Nouchi who was named MAC Newcomer of the Year, All-MAC First Team and All-MAC Tournament Team member was in the top-125 of the ITA Singles Rankings for multiple weeks during the season. Opitz was named a part of the Team's Double Team of the Year with Olivarez as the two went a perfect 11-0 together last season including an impressive 6-0 mark in conference play.

The Canadian standout, Zac Faveri, is the lone freshman to the team. Faveri is a three-time Roman Cup Winner and finished top-10 at Nationals three times, with a fifth, a sixth and a ninth place finish. He was an ITA Doubles Champion with partner Chris Fletcher and was a Provincial Doubles Champion and National Selections singles champion. He reached as high as No. 12 in the Canadian rankings and was fifth in Ontario.

Following the weekend, the Broncos are back on the court for the Toledo Rocket Invite next weekend running from Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 in Toledo, Ohio.