Men's tennis team claims MAC championship

Updated May 11, 2012

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University's men's tennis team won its ninth Mid-American Conference tournament championship Saturday, defeating the University at Buffalo, 4-0, in the tournament finals at Toledo.

The title is the Bronco men's tennis team's 31st overall MAC championship, counting both regular season and tournament titles. This is also the ninth MAC tournament title for head coach Dave Morin and his 13th overall conference championship.

With the tournament win, WMU earned a berth, its ninth, in the NCAA tournament.

In first-round play in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, the Broncos fell, 4-0, to No. 24 ranked Illinois May 11 at Urbana. The two schools have met four times in the NCAA tournament first round. Illinois won all four matches and holds an 12-2 advantage in overall meetings between the two teams.

Player and coach of the year

The Broncos garnered a host of individual honors, including Coach of the Year for Dave Morin and Player of the Year for sophomore Nadin Indre.

A native of Romania, where he is a top-10 ranked player, Indre finished the season with a 30-11 overall record in singles play and 26-17 overall in doubles. He was also named the most-outstanding player in the MAC tournament.

Morin earned his ninth Coach of the Year honor, including one awarded in 1994, when he coached at Bowling Green. He is the only person in MAC tennis history to earn the conference award at two schools.

Indre was named to the All-MAC First Team, and senior Zeyad Montasser of Egypt, and junior Ross VanderPloeg of Holland, Mich., earned second team honors. Senior Pablo Olivarez of the Philippines received the conference's Jack Vredevelt Sportsmanship Award, named for the former WMU head coach.

Visit wmubroncos.com for more about Bronco men's tennis.