Valpo's Schorsch Repeats as Horizon League Tennis Player of the Year; YSU's Lackova Takes Women's Honor

INDIANAPOLIS -- Valparaiso junior Jeffrey Schorsch and Youngstown State junior Dominika Lackova were named the Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Tennis Players of the Year, in voting of the League’s coaches.

Schorsch is the first men’s tennis player to earn consecutive player of the year honors since Michael Tenzer (Green Bay) in 2013-14 and fourth overall. This season, Schorsch went unbeaten in League play at No. 1 singles, going 6-0 and 18-2 overall at the position. Teaming with Charlie Emhardt in doubles, the duo is 15-3 overall and has been in the top 100 of the ITA rankings all year.

Lackova led Youngstown State to the No. 2 seed on the women’s side, going 6-3 at No. 1 singles in League play. The junior, a 2015 Horizon League First Team selection, is the second straight honoree from YSU, joining Marta Burak as Penguins women’s players of the year.

Valparaiso swept the men’s tennis individual awards, as Chad Kissell and Garrett Gardner collected the Men’s Freshman of the Year and Herb Foster Sportsmanship honors, respectively. For the first time in his 30 years at the helm of Valparaiso’s programs, head coach Jim Daugherty was voted Horizon League Men’s Coach of the Year.

On the women’s side, Cleveland State’s Isabella Spindler was tabbed the Freshman of the Year, while Youngstown State senior Annina Brendel was voted the Herb Foster Sportsmanship award. For the fourth time in his career, Cleveland State head coach Brian Etzkin was tabbed the Women’s Coach of the Year.

Joining Schorsch on the first was his teammate and freshman of the year, Kissell. Green Bay’s Leopold Gomez Islinger was voted to the first team for the second consecutive season and was joined by teammate Howard Scott, who was a second team pick in 2015. Northern Kentucky’s Mate Virag and Carl Hedstrom of UIC each earned first team honors for the first time in their careers.

Lackova and Brendel made it two Penguins on the first team. The duo was joined on the team by UIC’s Jackie Altansarnai, a repeat honoree from the 2015 team. Spindler represented Cleveland State on the team, while Wright State’s Karoline Haller and Labina Petrovska of Milwaukee completed the six-person team.

The 2016 Horizon League Tennis Championships are being contested April 29-May 1 at the Varsity Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. All three days will be carried live on ESPN3.

2016 Men’s Tennis Awards 
Player of the Year: Jeffrey Schorsch, Valparaiso
Freshman of the Year: Chad Kissell, Valparaiso
Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award: Garrett Gardner, Valparaiso
Coach of the Year: Jim Daugherty, Valparaiso

All-League First Team
Jeffrey Schorsch, Valparaiso
Leopold Gomez Islinger, Green Bay
Mate Virag, Northern Kentucky
Howard Scott, Green Bay
Chad Kissell, Valparaiso
Carl Hedstrom, UIC

All-League Second Team
Jody Maginley, Northern Kentucky
Charlie Emhardt, Valparaiso
Hugo Morth, Youngstown State
Joe VanMeter, Cleveland State
Mirko Radosevic, Cleveland State
Lukas Clemens, Northern Kentucky

2016 Women’s Tennis Awards
Player of the Year: Dominika Lackova, Youngstown State
Freshman of the Year: Isabella Spindler, Cleveland State
Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award: Annina Brendel, Youngstown State
Coach of the Year: Brian Etzkin, Cleveland State

All-League First Team
Dominika Lackova, Youngstown State
Jackie Altansarnai, UIC
Isabella Spindler, Cleveland State
Karoline Haller, Wright State
Annina Brendel, Youngstown State
Labina Petrovska, Milwaukee

All-League Second Team
Tamara Blum, Oakland
Klara Skopac, Northern Kentucky
Linsey Verstrepen, Wright State
Ann-Sophie Hahn, UIC
Irina Slizovskaya, Detroit
Hayley Marshall, Milwaukee