Horizon League Announces Tennis All-Conference Awards

INDIANAPOLIS – The Horizon League has announced the men’s and women’s tennis All-Conference honors with Valparaiso’s Jeffrey Schorsch and Northern Kentucky’s Margita Sunjic being recognized as the Players of the Year.

Each Horizon League school’s head coach casted their ballots for the postseason awards with the awards being announced at the banquet held for participating teams at the championship.

Jeffrey Schorsch capped off his stellar career by winning his third Player of the Year award in a row with an unblemished 7-0 record in league play. Schorsch currently sits at 109 career singles wins in his career, the most in school history.

Margita Sunjic was not only voted Freshman of the Year, she was also voted the top player in the league. Sunjic recorded the best winning percentage in the league at an .812 clip going 13-3 in spring play with all matches played as the No. 1 seed. The freshman posted an 8-1 in-conference record and teamed up in doubles play with All-League honoree Klara Skopac to notch five wins in league action.

Cleveland State’s Nico Mostardi picked up Freshman of the Year honors after playing the entire season as Cleveland State’s top player. Mostardi earned double-digit wins for the Vikings to help clinch a spot in the Horizon League Championship.

The Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award was awarded to a pair of seniors with Milwaukee’s Alysa Straub winning the accolade and Cleveland State’s Colton Buffington receiving the award.

UIC’s Shannon Tully won the women’s Coach of the Year honor after clinching a share of the regular season title for the Flames. UIC dropped only one match in conference play and won 17 matches on the season. The team’s 17 wins were the most by the Flames since the 2010 season.

Jim Daugherty finds himself in a familiar position winning Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. The Crusaders reached 20 wins for the third year in a row while going undefeated in Horizon League play for the second consecutive season.

The Horizon League Tennis Championship is set to take place at the Varsity Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. from April 28-30. All matches will be streamed on ESPN3.

Men's First Team All-Conference   
Jeffrey Schorsch, Senior, Valparaiso             
Flo Kraenzler, Junior, Green Bay            
Mitch Maroscher, Senior, Youngstown State         
Chad Kissell, Sophomore, Valparaiso               
Artem Vasheshnikov, Sophomore, Detroit Mercy  
Mate Virag, Senior, Northern Kentucky                    

Men’s Second Team All-Conference
Nico Mostardi, Freshman, Cleveland State             
Danylo Veremeichuk, Freshman, Youngstown State    
Patryk Koscielski, Senior, Detroit Mercy           
Charlie Emhardt, Senior, Valparaiso            
Carl Hedstrom, Senior, UIC           
Thomas Rodrigues, Freshman, Youngstown State         

Player of the Year
Jeffrey Schorsch, Senior, Valparaiso

Freshman of the Year
Nico Mostardi, Cleveland State

Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award
Colton Buffington, Senior, Cleveland State

Coach of the Year
Jim Daugherty, Valparaiso
                               
Women's First Team All-Conference            
Margita Sunjic, Freshman, Northern Kentucky               
Karoline Haller, Junior, Wright State                  
Dominika Lackova, Senior, Youngstown State               
Oana Manole, Senior, UIC               
Noelly Longi Nsimba, Junior, Youngstown State                
Anna Davydova, Senior, Detroit Mercy      

Women’s Second Team All-Conference
Victoria Bensimon, Senior, Cleveland State           
Isabella Spindler, Sophomore, Cleveland State              
Klara Skopac, Senior, Northern Kentucky                
Allison Motea, Freshman, Oakland                 
Linsey Verstrepen, Senior, Wright State   
Georgie Sanders, Sophomore, UIC            

Player of the Year
Margita Sunjic, Freshman, Northern Kentucky

Freshman of the Year
Margita Sunjic, Northern Kentucky

Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award
Alysa Straub, Senior, Milwaukee

Coach of the Year
Shannon Tully, UIC