Men's Tennis 4/26/2013 6:16:00 PM

Weinhold wins North Atlantic Conference West Division title

CLARKS SUMMIT, PA (April 26, 2013) - Drew Weinhold completed his dominance of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) West Division by winning the No. 1 singles tournament and earning the title of Player of the Year. In addition, the freshman was selected as the NAC Rookie of the Year, as voted on by the coaches in the conference.

The Nittany Lions had three student-athletes compete at the NAC West Division Individual Tournament on Friday, April 26 at the Birchwood Tennis Center. Weinhold competed in the No. 1 singles tournament and Creston Smoker played in the No. 5 singles tournament. Weinhold and George Chacko teamed up for the No. 1 doubles tournament.

Weinhold and Chacko entered as the No. 3 seed in the top doubles tournament. The pair lost 8-5 to the Rutgers-Camden team of Ryan Airo and Aaron Hartman. Weinhold and Chacko rebounded with an 8-3 win in the consolation match against Lancaster Bible College. That win earned them a spot on the All-NAC Third Team.

Weinhold did not have the easiest road ahead of him in the top singles tournament. He opened up against the 2011-12 NAC No. 2 singles champion, Jordan Domsky of Penn State Abington. Domsky is the only NAC player that was able to win a set from Weinhold. This time around, Weinhold won in straight sets by a score of 6-1, 6-2.

In the championship tilt, Weinhold faced off against Joshua Cartmill, who was last season's NAC West Player of the Year. The freshman remained focused and won the title by a score of 6-4, 6-2. With the win, Weinhold also receives All-NAC First Team honors.

Weinhold is the first member of the men's tennis program to win Player of the Year since Pat Bhanubandh in the 2007-08 season. He is the first person in program-history to win the Rookie of the Year award.

Smoker dropped both of his matches in the No. 5 singles tournament. He ends his three-year career at Berks with 23 wins in singles and doubles combined.

The Nittany Lions finished the 2012-13 season with an overall record of 7-6 and 3-3 in the conference. Head coach Scott Yarnell was able to get the most he could out of his team this season. In the spring season, the Nittany Lions went 6-3 and had a four-match winning streak.

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Players Mentioned

Creston Smoker: 5' 9"; Senior

Drew Weinhold: 5' 10"; Freshman

George Chacko: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Creston Smoker
: 5' 9"; Senior

Drew Weinhold
: 5' 10"; Freshman

George Chacko
: 5' 7"; Sophomore