KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's team is set to begin its 2019 spring campaign on Sunday, Jan. 13, hosting a doubleheader versus the University of Illinois at Chicago. Matches are scheduled to begin at noon and 4:30 p.m. from West Hills Athletic Club.Â
BRONCOS TABBED TO FINISH FIRST IN MAC PRESEASON POLL
Western Michigan was selected to finish first in the MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, released on Friday, Jan. 11. The MAC Coaches selected the Broncos to repeat as regular season champions with 36 total votes, including six first place votes and four tournament champion votes.
2019 MAC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
1. Western Michigan (36)
2. Buffalo (28)
3. Northern Illinois (25)
4. Ball State (16)
5. Binghamton (11)
6. Toledo (10)
(total points based on 6 points for a first-place vote; 5 for second-place, etc.)
Regular Season First-Place votes: Western Michigan (6).
Tournament winner votes: Western Michigan (4); Northern Illinois (1).
REIGNING MAC CHAMPIONS
Last season, the Broncos finished 22-5 overall, 7-0 in the Mid-American Conference, and a perfect 11-0 at home while winning both the conference regular season title and the MAC Tournament Championship, the program's 24th regular season title and 12th MAC Tournament title. Western Michigan was one of 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament with 20+ wins and rode an 11-match winning streak into the 64-team championship. WMU had its season ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, falling 4-1 against No. 25-ranked Notre Dame.Â
The Brown & Gold were ranked for four consecutive weeks during the season and were ranked as high as 31. Among the eight returners to this year's squad, three received All-MAC honors including first team selection Jannik Opitz and second team selections Lenhard Haupt and Kennosuke Nouchi.
2018 FALL SEASON
Throughout six tournaments in the fall season including several with select players participating, the Brown & Gold accumulated an 83-43 singles record along with a 37-20 mark in doubles play. The Broncos capped off the fall schedule hosting the MAC Invite Nov. 9-11, coming away with four singles titles for the second consecutive season. Jannik Opitz, Zac Faveri, Peter Kuszynski, and Nick Schnobel were all crowned champions in their respective singles flights.
At the ITA Midwest Regional Championships at the University of Notre Dame Oct. 17-21, the freshman duo of Peter Kuszynski and Jack Randall went 4-1 while coming up one win short of the doubles finals, while defeating pairs from Toledo, Illinois, Marquette, and Michigan. No. 1 seeded Martin Joyce and Hunter Tubert from Ohio State defeated Kuszynski and Randall 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals. The pair opened their rookie seasons with a 7-3 doubles record and were ranked among the top-60 in the National Doubles rankings, coming in at No. 54 in the first Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Division I Rankings of the 2018-19 season on Wednesday, Nov. 14.
2019 SCHEDULE
The Broncos open the spring dual-match schedule with six matches in the month in January, with Sunday's competition versus UIC being the only matchups at home. After the meeting with UIC, WMU faces Iowa on Jan. 19, followed by a trip to Texas Jan. 26-28. The Brown & Gold will have two matches at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in College Station, Texas, facing No. 9-ranked Texas A&M and the winner of No. 17 Virginia and (RV) California. WMU closes out the trip versus Rice in Houston, Texas.Â
The spring slate features 15 non-conference matches, closed out with a four-match home stand Feb. 22-March 10, which begins with a match versus in-state rival Michigan State. MAC competition begins March 15-16 in Muncie, Ind. versus Ball State and Northern Illinois.Â
