AZUSA, Calif. -- Over half of Azusa Pacific’s combined men’s and women’s tennis roster was listed in the 2009 NAIA tennis postseason honors. Seven different Cougars were named NAIA All-American, with 3 more earning Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete recognition.
Men’s tennis junior Mathias Weber earned dual recognition, collecting his third NAIA All-American recognition with his honorable mention selection to go with his second consecutive honor as a Daktronics-NAIA Men’s Tennis Scholar Athlete. Weber finished the season with a phenomenal 2-month stretch, winning 15 of 16 combined singles and doubles matches since March 25. The 6-foot-2 junior won his final 6 singles matches, and he won 9 of his last 10 in doubles play, including back-to-back wins at No. 1 doubles during Azusa Pacific’s 13th consecutive NAIA Tournament appearance last week in Mobile, Ala.
In the final in-season NAIA individual singles and doubles rankings released April 16, Weber was part of the NAIA’s No. 3-ranked doubles tandem with fellow junior Matthijs Bolsius. Bolsius, an NAIA All-American first team selection, was also ranked No. 4 in the NAIA’s singles rankings, registering a 15-6 mark while playing exclusively at the top singles position. At No. 1 doubles, the Bolsius/Weber tandem registered a 13-6 mark for the year. Bolsius registered a 10-match singles winning streak through the heart of the regular-season, beating 6 individually-ranked opponents during a stretch that lasted nearly a month.
Freshman Janosch Apelt earned NAIA All-American second team recognition after ascending to No. 15 in the NAIA’s individual singles rankings. Apelt was 16-7 in singles play on the season, including an 11-4 clip at the No. 2 position after opening the year with 4 wins in 5 matches at No. 4.
Sophomore Sheryl Bon led a quartet of NAIA All-Americans for the Cougar women’s tennis program, earning second-team honors for the second consecutive year. Bon, who a year ago became just the second Cougar freshman ever named an NAIA All-American, was joined by a trio of freshmen who earned honorable mention recognition. Bon went 8-6 in singles on the season, including a 6-5 mark at No. 1, but she missed over a month of action due to injury before returning for the final match of the regular season. She registered an 11-6 doubles record with 5 different partners.
The freshman trio of Natalie McNall, Emily Ignas and Leah Hoffee were each named NAIA All-American honorable mention after helping lead Azusa Pacific to its sixth consecutive top-3 GSAC finish. McNall and Ignas bolstered the Cougars’ doubles lineup, with McNall registering a 16-5 doubles mark while Ignas went 13-7 in doubles play. The tandem partnered 9 times in doubles, going 6-3 in those matches. McNall was ranked 38th in the latest NAIA women’s individual singles rankings, and Ignas was just 3 spots behind at 41st in those April 20 individual rankings.
Hoffee was 12-6 in singles play, 7-5 in doubles, and she played at least twice at each of the 6 singles positions except for the top spot. She won both times she played at No. 2, including a 3-set victory April 21 over Concordia’s Jordan Kimura, the NAIA’s No. 28-ranked singles player. In the Cougars’ 5-2 NAIA Tournament defeat to Brenau (Ga.), Hoffee teamed with sophomore Casey Wetzig for a resounding 8-2 win over the NAIA’s No. 13-ranked doubles tandem of Lyn See Choo and Hannah Thompson.
The remaining national postseason honors went to 4 members of Azusa Pacific’s men’s tennis team, who were named 2009 Daktronics-NAIA Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athletes. To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and have achieved junior academic status to qualify. Junior Ronald Chow, academic senior Eric Isaacson and academic junior Daniel Moore rounded out the Azusa Pacific delegate of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete recipients.
