Coaches Select Transylvania as HCAC Men’s Tennis Favorite

GREENWOOD, IN – Transylvania University’s men’s tennis team has been unanimously selected as the front runner to win the 2011 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. In a poll of the nine HCAC head coaches, the Pioneers received a maximum total of 81 points and all nine first place votes.

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology placed second in the poll with 62 points, while Earlham College is picked to finish third in the conference standings this fall with 56 points.  Hanover College (53 points), Franklin College (46), Anderson University (39), Defiance College (35), College of Mount St. Joseph (18), and Manchester College (15) round out the poll.

The Pioneers are coming off a 12-6 season and 7-0 conference record in 2010, claiming their eighth straight conference championship. Transy won the HCAC Tournament and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Wilkes, ending their season.  Transy enters the 2011 conference season riding a 64 match win streak against HCAC foes.

Coach Chuck Brown returns two First-Team All-HCAC selections to the Transy lineup this spring.  Junior Will Palmer (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) and junior Joseph Glass (Paris, Ky./Bourbon Co.) will look to pick up where they left off last season.  Palmer was named the HCAC Player of the Year for the second straight season, posting an 8-1 league record at the No. 1 singles and doubles positions.  Glass finished his 2010 campaign 10-0, primarily at the No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles slot.

Rose-Hulman will look to challenge the Pioneers for the HCAC crown this fall after finishing 11-9 overall and 5-2 in the HCAC last season.  The Engineers will have to try and fill the void left by two departing All-HCAC members from a year ago.  Sophomore Ben Paras (Tucson, Ariz./Nordhoff) earned first team All-HCAC honors last spring after posting a 6-7 record at No. 1 singles and doubles as a freshman.  RHIT also returns their No. 4, 5, and 6 singles players from last season’s second place squad.  Senior Alex Gumz (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) posted an 8-3 overall HCAC record at  No. 4 and 5 singles and No. 2 and 3 doubles last spring.  Four other three-time lettermen join Gumz in a quest for the school’s first HCAC men’s tennis crown.

Earlham College will try and make some noise in its first season as a conference member.  The Quakers finished the 2010 season 8-10 overall with a 0-4 mark in the North Coast Athletic Conference.  Sophomore Henry Levin (Dallas, Tex./Highland Park) finished 8-0 at No. 1 singles and 4-0 at No. 1 doubles last season and will look to challenge as one of the top players in the conference.  Sophomore Brad Maisey (Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand/Tauranga Boys) also played some at No. 1 singles, finishing the 2010 season 7-2 at No. 1 singles and 6-1 at No. 2 singles.  Maisey was named the NCAC Newcomer of the Year for his efforts.

The 2011 men’s tennis season is set to begin on February 3.

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