KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan men's tennis team and head coach Dave Morin have announced the captains for the 2020-21 season ahead of Sunday's home clash against DePaul, with Jannik Optiz, Zac Faveri and Peter Kuszynski leading the squad.
This is the third time that Opitz has been selected a captain. The fifth-year senior served as a captain last season and during his junior year. Faveri is a captain for the second time, also serving as one last year. Kuszynski, a junior, leads the team for the first time in his career.
"We wanted to wait and vote on our team captains until everyone had returned this semester," said Morin. "Jannik, Zac and Peter will do a great job for us. We have a large team and with five of them being freshmen, it's going to be critical that we get good leadership and establish the team culture both on and off the court that is important to our program's success. I'm confident that these three will provide that foundation for our team.
THE MATCHUP
Sunday is the 20th time the two teams have faced each other. Western Michigan leads the all-time series at 12-7, with the last meeting coming on March 2, 2013 at the HEB Tournament Of Champions. The Broncos won that match 4-1. The Blue Demons are 1-0 this season with a 7-0 win over Illinois-Chicago.
RECORD WATCH
Jannik Opitz picked up seven wins last weekend as the Broncos swept Grand Valley State and Ferris State. The senior went 4-0 in doubles play and 3-0 in singles. The seven wins gives him 208 in his career, tying Jose Orozco for fourth all-time in program history. He sits just eight more shy of tying Michael Calderone for the all-time record at 216.
RECOGNITION
Sophomore Arjun Honnappa and junior Fynn Lohse were the first Broncos to pick up Mid-American Conference weekly honors as the duo was named the MAC Men's Doubles Team of the Week. The pair went 4-0 in doubles play, 2-0 at both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, as the Broncos started off the season 4-0 after sweeps of GVSU and FSU.
ON THE HORIZON
The Broncos have a busy week next week. WMU opens on Thursday hosting Chicago State at 2 p.m. and then welcomes Illinois-Chicago on Friday at 5 p.m. Western Michigan then heads on the road for the first time this season, heading to Notre Dame on Saturday for a 3 p.m. match.
