MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MAC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week
Ross VanderPloeg, Western Michigan – Senior, Holland, Mich.
Western Michigan senior Ross VanderPloeg had a standout weekend for the Broncos at the H.E.B. Tournament of Champions, hosted by Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, finishing 5-1 overall on the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record in singles play. VanderPloeg won all three of his matches at No. 2 singles, defeating Lousiana-Lafayette's Jake Wynan 6-4, 6-2 and #30 Brigham Young's Spencer Smith 6-4, 6-4 on Friday afternoon, and DePaul's Mathias Hambach 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 on Saturday. VanderPloeg helped clinch the doubles point for the Broncos in their victory over the Blue Demons, teaming with Aaron Wong to beat Paul John and Adam Reinhart 9-8 (3) in the No. 2 doubles.
Additional Nominees:
Sebastian Ionescu, Buffalo – Sophomore, Braila, Romania
Buffalo sophomore Sebastian Ionescu was 1-1 in singles play over a grueling weekend for the Bulls. In a road match at number 55 Princeton, he forced a third-set super-tiebreaker against Matt Spindler, falling 11-9, after forcing the breaker with a tiebreaker win in the second set. Returning to Buffalo for Sunday’s match against NJIT, he rolled past Andres Alban, 6-3, 6-4. Since joining the Bulls in January, the sophomore transfer from Arizona is 7-2 in singles play.