by Diego Teixeira Setton–This spring became a very special one for Morningside Tennis Athletes, as they conquered the GPAC for the first time in program history.
Both men’s and women’s teams won the title, with the men boasting an overall record of 18-4 and going undefeated in the conference. The women’s team finished at 18-3 and also went undefeated in the GPAC.
The title clinching game was played against Midland. The men won 4-1 and the women 4-0.
Both are now automatically qualified for the NAIA national tournament, which will be played May 14-18 in Mobile, Alabama.
The men will face William Woods (Missouri) in the first round and the women will play Westcliff, a university from Irvine, California. Both games will played May 14, starting at 10am and 1pm.
GPAC conference honors
The tennis honors for the Great Plains Conference rolled around this week and were dominated by Mustangs.
After winning the GPAC earlier this spring, it couldn’t have been different. Both men’s and women’s teams dominated the awards.
For the men, all six singles and three doubles nominations were from Morningside, with players including Mark Trenkle, Santiago Minneti, Skander Ben Abdallah, Gustav Sjoberg, Mikhil Raja and Joao Pedro Pierry.
For the doubles the duos of Trenkle and Sjoberg, Minneti and Abdallah and Winyou Asavaruangchai and Abhisek Mohapatra were also recognized. Mark Trentle won Player of the Year while Santiago Minneti won ITA Rookie of the Year.
On the women’s side things weren’t much different. Eight members were award the all-conference honors, with Line Jensen, Annika Meisel, Emily Clotfelter, Jil Hellerforth, Delfina Stuzynska and Lidia Suarez nominated for singles. Jensen was also ITA Rookie of the Year.
For doubles the duos of Jensen and Stuzynska, Helleforth and Meisel, and Clotfelter and Macy McDonald were awarded.
Coach Alex Struck was also awarded GPAC Coach of the Year for both men’s and women’s.
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